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EL DORADO; ' 



*> 



BEING A NARRATIVE 



OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH GAVE RISE TO RETORTS, IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, 
OF THE EXISTENCE Of A 



RICH AND SPLENDID CITY 



IN SOUTH AMERICA, 



TO WHICH THAT NAME WAS GIVEN, AND WHICH LED TO MANY ENTERPRISES IN SEARCH OF IT J 



INCLUDING A 



DEFENCE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 



IN REGARD TO THE RELATIONS MADE BY HIM RESPECTING IT, AND A 

NATION OF FEMALE WARRIORS, IN THE VICINITY OF THE AMAZON, 

IN THE NARRATIVE OF HIS EXPEDITION TO THE ORONOKE IN 1595. 



WITH A MAP. 



BY J. A. VAN HEUVEL 



iX'cro-Uork : 



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THERESE~DUNOYER. 

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EL DORADO. 



EL DORADO; 



BEING A NARRATIVE 



OF THE CIRCUMSTANCE WHICH OAVE RISE TO REPORTS, IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, 
OF THE EXISTENCE OF A 



RICH AND SPLENDID CITY 

IN SOUTH AMERICA, 

TO WHICH THAT NAME WAS GIVEN, AND WHICH LED TO MANY ENTERPRISES IN SEARCH OF IT; 

INCLUDING A 

DEFENCE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

IN REGARD TO THE RELATIONS MADE BY HIM RESPECTING IT, AND A 

NATION OF FEMALE WARRIORS, IN THE VICINITY OF THE AMAZON, 

IN THE NARRATIVE OF HIS EXPEDITION TO THE ORONOKE IN 1596. 

W T T II A M A P . 



B \ J. A VAN HEUVEL 



3fai>~$ork : 

J. WINCHESTER, NEW WORLD PRESS, 30 ANN-STREET. 
MDCCCXLIV. 




Morses Cerograpjy. 






EDtered according to Act of Coagress, by 

JACOB A. VAN HEUYEL, 

In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District cf New York, in the year 1844. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Among the distinguished names which shine in the pages of Modern History, 
scarce any holds a more conspicuous place than Sir Walter Raleigh. And 
equally to an American as to the inhabitants of his own country, is his history 
interesting, as his enterprising spirit first led to the discovery of that part of 
North America which is now the United States ; and made the first attempts to 
colonize it — whence he has been called the Father of American Colonization. His 
brilliant and varied talents, his bold and daring genius, his chivalric courage ; 
his services to his country, both by land and sea, which were the fruits of these 
qualities, particularly his maritime expeditions ; combined with his ardent love of 
science and his extensive knowledge — and in the end, his melancholy fate, have 
often been portrayed by writers of his own country, with enthusiastic admira- 
tion, mingled with deep sympathy and regret. A portion of his life may, how- 
ever, it is believed, even now, from a further knowledge of facts, be more fully 
elucidated. 

The melancholy catastrophe of it, had its origin in various expeditions which 
he made during a long period to Guyana, in South America, in pursuit of the 
fabled city of El Dorado — supposed by him — to be within its limits and of the rich 
mineral treasures with which it abounded. But this part of his life has been 
less particularly examined than any other. While the sentence against him 
has been denounced, with unqualified condemnation, by historians generally, for 
the grounds on which it was founded, as unjust, tyrannical and oppressive ; the 
censures he became subject to, from the representations he made of that country, 
as a weak victim to credulity, or the dishonest fabricator of the glowing accounts 
he gave of it, made, it was alleged, with the view of regaining the favor of an 
offended sovereign, have continued, yet, to throw some shade on the fame of this 
illustrious man. 

My attention has been directed to this portion of his life, by a visit I made, some 
years since, to a part of British Guyana ; which led me to consult cotomporary 
voyagers to that and other parts of Guyana, and later writers, who have described 
it ; and the result of my careful investigation of the subject, aided by a lew facts 
I then obtained, has thrown some light on the Narrative of his first voyage to 
that region, which furnished the ground of the invectives of his enemies ; and 
enabled me to place his character, in regard to it, in a more- advantageous light 
than it has heretofore been viewed in. 



VT INTRODUCTION. 

Some relations made by him of very singular tribes of Indians, in the vicinity 
of the Oronoke and Amazon, which contributed to impair the credibility of his 
statements generally, by exhibiting him to those disposed to condemn him, with- 
out examination, as a credulous dealer in fabulous romantic narratives ; in par- 
ticular, his remarkable account of a nation of female warriors, whom Hume, in his 
unlimited invective against him, styles his " Republic of Amazons," have also been 
the subject of my examination ; and which has, I believe, resulted in an entire 
vindication, of him in respect to them. 

It is the object of these pages to exhibit the facts I have collected on the sub- 
jects I have examined, and the conclusions I have formed upon them ; which will 
be done with a strict regard to truth and historical accuracy, without aiming at 
embellishment ; and for his defence, I rely on a simple presentation of them, 
founded as they will be, on unimpeachable testimony ; believing that thus greater 
justice will be done to his memory, than by attempting a general eulogy on his 
character, which is not required, and would be a useless effort, after the numerous 
panegyrics upon him which have proceeded from the ablest pens. 



Heuvelton, St. Lawrence County, New- York, Jan. 20, 1844. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Early life of Sir Walter Raleigh — his attempts to colonize Virginia — Incurs the dis- 
pleasure of Queen Elizabeth, and his exile from Court — Begins to entertain the 
scheme of the conquest of Guyana and the discovery of El Dorado — Account of 
the origin of this Chimera and of various enterprises of the Spaniards in pursuit 
of it. 

CHAPTER II. 

Account of several expeditions made by Raleigh to Guyana — Notice of his Narrative 
relating reports heard by him of El Dorado in the interior of it, situated upon a 
great Lake — Opinions of Geographers as to the reality of such a Lake, and its 
character. 

CHAPTER III. 

Investigation of the character of Lake Parima — What rivers flow from it — State of 
the population about it in the time of Raleigh — Circumstances which probably 
gave rise to the idea of a great City upon it — Some facts regarding the Natural 
History of that Region. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Examination of the relation of Juan Martinez, a Spaniard, who professed to have 
seen the City — Whether gold articles were in early times possessed by the In- 
dians in the interior of Guyana, and whence obtained — Remarks on the rela- 
tion of a Charibee Chief on the Oronoke, of an invasion of it by Peruvians. 

CHAPTER V 

Sir Walter Raleigh's reports of the mineral riches of Guyana, examined — Opinions 

of Humboldt on the subject — Difficulties in which Raleigh became involved at 

home, which suspended his expeditions to Guyana — His trial and long impris- 
onment. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Hie liberation from imprisonment — Prepares another (his fourth) expedition to Guy- 
ana — Unfortunate failure of it — His return home — Great displeasure trf the i 
against him — His tragical end — Consequences of his voyages to that country — 
Colonies sent to it from England — Sketch of the settlements made in it by 
other nations. 



viii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Examination of several remarkable relations made by Raleigh, of Indian tribes in 
Guyana and its vicinity, particularly of a nation of Female Warriors on the 
Amazon — Similar relations made by various Travellers. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The subject continued — Relations heard by the author in Guyana, respecting them — 
Opinions of different writers on the subject — Account of the Green Stones, 
their peculiar ornament — Probable origin of this nation. 

APPENDIX I. 

Relation of Fisher, associate of Harcourt, who made a voyage to Cayenne, in 1608 — 
Respecting a Lake in the interior of Guyana, and a city upon it. 

APPENDIX II. 

Extracts from several paper? four -J. in a prize vessel taken from the Spaniards 
giving an account of the discovery of El Dorado, in Guyana. 

APPENDIX III. 

Remarks on the warlike character of the females of the Charibees. 

APPENDIX I V. 
Sir Walter Raleigh's Letter to Prince Henry, and his Instructions to his son. 

APPENDIX V. 

Vocabularies of the Languages of Five Indian Nations, in Guyana. 

APPENDIX VI. 

Comparison of some languages of the Oronoke and Guyana, with the Moxos and 
Quichua of Peru. 



EL DORADO, 



CHAPTER I. 

£ARLY LIFE OF SIR SALTER RALEIGH — HIS ATTEMPTS TO COLONIZE VIR- 
GINIA INCURS THE DISPLEASURE OF THE QUEEN, AND HIS EXILE FROM 

COURT — BEGINS TO ENTERTAIN THE SCHEME OF THE CONQUEST OF GUYANA 

AND THE DISCOVERY OF EL DORADO ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THIS 

CHIMERA AND OF VARIOUS EXPEDITIONS BY THE SPANIARDS TN PURSUIT 

Few men have, at any time, appeared on the public stage, who united 
in their character such an assemblage of brilliant qualities as Sir Walter 
Raleigh. His physical and mental endowments were alike conspicuous. 
Formed by nature in the finest mould, and his constitution possessed both 
of vio-or and ability — an active life would seem to have been that for 
which he was peculiarly qualified, while an intellect of varied powers, 
fitted him equally for the investigation of science and the pursuit of litera- 
ture. We see him, at one time employed in the military service of his 
country, or on bold and daring maritime expeditions; at another, when 
retired from public scenes, devoting his time with the most patient assidui- 
ty to grave and laborious studies, and employing his pen in giving to the 
world the results of his investigations. " When we view his actions," 
says Mr. Cayley, one of his biographers, from whom I have taken my 
principal facts in his life, "we are astonished at the number of his wri- 
tings. Viewing his writings, we wonder he had time for so much action."* 
And not only was his philosophic genius employed in the study of History 
and Philosophy, moral and natural in all its branches : he sometimes, 
also, recreated himself in the flowery walks of imagination. The vi 
which he wrote, at different times, arc very favorable specimens of his 
poetical talent ; and it is the opinion of a cotemporary, that had 1; 
himself to the cultivation of it, ho would have arrived at as much dis- 
tinction in this as any other department of literature, or as he attain 
any sphere in which he moved in public life. 

When arrived at manhood and entered into public service. ie s00 " 
discovered a genius for enterprise and the pursuit of fort ' M T- 

• Ciy ley'. Life of R&leijh, 2nd vol. p. 165 • Tho sd.uon referred ft .ire quotations, ii the se;ond . 

LonUo: 



2 ELDORADO. 

To that object his active life was mainly devoted — and when not engaged 
abroad,, or on public duties at home, his hours of leisure were directed 
to the pursuit of knowledge ; and he discovered the happy effects of the 
union of an inquisitive mind — which led him to seek information in every 
direction, of foreign countries — with an enterprising genius, in forming 
plans for their discovery ; and great activity, energy and perseverance, in 
carrying them into execution. This combination of various qualities, 
made him the admiration of the age in which he lived, and one of the 
most distinguished men of his country ; but had, likewise, the effect of 
raising against him a number of rivals, envious of his talents and influ- 
ence, who at length undermined him — and, combined with political circum- 
stances, caused his unhappy fate. 

» He had the advantage," says Mr. Cayley, " of entering life under 
ihe reign of Queen Elizabeth, so distinguished for the vigor and success 
of her government, and the variety of important events occurring in the 
course of it, and at a period of unusual political activity to exercise and 
encourage his genius." And he early discovered indications of that brave 
and daring spirit, and love of enterprise, which distinguished him through 
life. When he had just arrived ha his seventeenth year, he engaged as 
one of a troop of well-equipped volunteers, who, under permission from 
ihe Queen, marched into France to assist the Huguenots. " He remained 
an France four years ; and as, during this whole period, there was a con- 
stant succession of battles, sieges, and treaties, he had a very advantage- 
ous opportunity to form his military character." He was next employed 
in Holland. The Queen having broken her peace with Spain, and agreed 
to supply the States with men and money, a force was sent there by her, 
"which Raleigh accompanied. On his return in 1579, being then in his 
twenty-seventh year, he exchanged the service on land for that on the 
sea ; and then appeared the first development of that spirit of maritime 
enterprise and foreign discovery, which was the leading feature of his life. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, his relative, obtained a patent from Queen 
Elizabeth for planting and inhabiting certain northern parts of America, 
which extended beyond the twenty-fifth degree of N.Lat., unpossessed by any 
of her allies ; and young Raleigh readily engaged in the adventure. Many 
others entered into the cause. When the shipping was prepared, however, 
unanimity was wanting, and the majority separated ; leaving Sir Hum- 
phrey to prosecute the adventure with only a few of his most faithful 
adherents — among whom was R,aleigh. With these few he ventured to 
sea, and, after a smart action with the Spaniards, was compelled to return 
home with the loss of a large ship. 

T'he early period at which Raleigh entered into the public service, de- 
prived i«ri " f the advantages of extended education. Of his childhood, 
no circumstc«» ce has been preserved ; and it is not known even, at what 
school he had be» n admitted. But it is agreed by Lord Bacon and some 
other writers of that period, that he studied a few years at the University 
of Oxford. From what ca&ses he broke so early from his studies, and 



SIRW ALTER RALEIGH. 3 

enlisted in a band of youthful volunteers to aid the Protestants of France, 
is not known : but it is clear it did notarise from a disrelish for study and 
the pursuit of knowledge. He soon became sensible of the deficiency in 
his education, " and, amid the anxious and troublesome life of a soldier, 
endeavored to repair it. Of the twenty-four hours, only live were allowed 
for sleep, and four were devoted to study; while he voluntarily shared, in 
his land and sea expeditions, the labors, hardships, and hazards of the 
meanest of his companions." 

After this he was engaged in Ireland in military affairs. The Roman 
Catholics there, instigated by the King of Spain and the Pope, were on 
the eve of a general revolution ; and to subdue them, a force was sent 
over by the Government, in which Raleigh held a commission as captain. 
Very honorable mention is made by an historian of his services in this 
rebellion. He was one of four companies deputed by the Commander of 
tne troops to attack a fort built by the Spaniards, in which he exhibited 
great activity and bravery ; and after a siege of five days, the fort sur- 
rendered at discretion. In other actions he displayed the same spirit, 
address, and courage. 

" It was probably about this time, that Spenser the poet, who had been 
appointed by Lord Grey — the deputy — his secretary, contracted that 
friendship with Raleigh, which proved so beneficial to him in Raleigh's 
more advanced fortunes ; for after Sir Philip Sidney's death, he was his 
chief patron and friend." 

" Raleigh's services in Ireland, were of themselves sufficient to recom- 
mend him to the favor of Queen Elizabeth. But tradition has related an 
incident which ascribes to his gallantry, his first introduction to his sove- 
reign. The Queen in her walks, met one day, it is said, a dirty spot on 
the road, which made her hesitate about proceeding. Raleigh, whose 
person was handsome and his address graceful, threw off his new plush 
mantle and spread it for her majesty, who trod over the fair carpet sur- 
prised and pleased at the adventure." 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, four years after his unsuccessful voyage, made 
another expedition to Newfoundland, and Raleigh determined to hold a 
share in it, though he did not accompany it ; and fitted out a vessel of two 
hundred tuns to join it, at his own expense. The fleet sailed on the 
eleventh of June, 1583. His vessel was obliged to part from it, by a 
contagious distemper, and returned to England in great distress. Sir 
Humphrey reached Newfoundland, and took possession of it; but on his 
return two of his vessels were lost, in one of which he himself perished.* 

Raleigh's mind appears now to have become entirely devoted to the 
pursuit of foreign discoveries, and his enterprising genius found an a 
field on which to exert itself. The ill success of his relative, had kittle 
influence in damping his ardor. Other regions in North America lay yet 
• Xplored. On examining the discoveries and e>- the Span- 

iard-, he found that they had not extc . .id the Gulf of Mexico. 

b -vul. 1. p. !.>- 



4 



L DOR A D 



and that a large extent of country lay north of it, which he thought might be 
worth colonizing, and he resolved to attempt it. 

Having prepared his plan, he laid it before the Queen and council, and 
it meeting with their approbation, she granted him her letters patent, 
dated March the twenty-fifth, 1584, " to discover such remote barbarous 
lands as were not actually possessed by any Christain people." 

No sooner was the patent obtained, than he, with some associates, 
equipped two vessels for an American voyage, commanded by Captains 
Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlowe, which went to sea on the twenty, 
seventh of April, 1584, and arrived the fourth day of July succeeding, 
on the coast of North Carolina, and cast anchor at the Island of Roanoke, 
of which they took possession in right of the Queen, and to the use of 
Raleigh. An amicable intercourse was held by them with the Indians, 
but they made no settlement on it, and returned to England satisfied with 
having obtained a knowledge of the country ; and as a record of their having 
taken possession of it, drew up an account of the voyage of discovery and 
landing, addressed to Raleigh, and signed by some of the principal persons 
who were present. 

. Raleigh laid before Queen Elizabeth the account he had received of the 
country, visited by the ships, with which she was so pleased, that, < : either, 
because this was the first discovery of it, or it was discovered under her 
rei<m, she conferred on it the name of Virginia," embracing all the un- 
discovered portion of North America. 

At that period, produced no doubt by the spirit with which he prosecuted 
these voyages of discovery, and the success which had attended them, he 
•had risen high in public notice, and in favor of the Queen. " On the ap- 
proaching session of Parliament he was so well supported, that he was 
elected one of the knights of the shire for the county of Devon ; and it was 
probably about this time that he received the honor of knighthood." * 

The favorable report made by Barlowe and Amidas of this country, 
induced Raleigh to make another expedition to it. Early in 1585, seven 
sail were ready for sea, the command of which was given to Sir Richard 
Grenville ; and the squadron sailed from Plymouth on the ninth of April, 
having on board a colony of about one hundred men, to be planted in that 
country under the government of Mr. Lane.f The fleet came to anchor 
on the coast of North Carolina, and, after landing at several places to dis- 
cover the country, fixed upon a site for a settlement.^: The next year 
Sir Walter R.aleigh, at his own charge, prepared a ship of one hundred 
tuns, provided with plentiful supplies for the relief of the colony. But be- 
fore it arrived, the colony being visited by Sir Francis Drake with a fleet, 
"the colonists, in consequence of not receiving the supplies, growing des- 
pondent, solicited him to take them home with him to England; which 
request he granted, and the settlement was broken up.§ 

The year after, Sir Walter Raleigh sent out another colony there, con- 
sisting of two hundred and fifty men, under the command of Mr. John 

* C'Dylsy, vot I. p. 19-70. t CayJey, vol. 1. p. "4- J Aaper.dk No. IV. § Cayley, vol, I. p 74*.c 7S„ 



INCURS THE QUEEN'S DISPLEASURE. 5 

White, with twelve assistants, whom he incorporated under the name of 
" Governor and Assistants of the city of Raleigh, in Virginia." The vessel 
reached its destination, and the colonists were landed. They urged the 
Governor, however, to return for fresh supplies, to which he consented, 
and Raleigh on his arrival in England prepared to send them ; but the ap- 
prehension in England of a Spanish invasion, calling in requisition everj 
vessel, he experienced some delay in making his preparations. Finally, 
he sent two pinnaces with the supplies ; but one having been taken at sea, 
and stripped, they both returned to England without accomplishing their 
purpose, to the distress of the colony, and the vexation of its proprietors. 

" Experience having now taught him the real, and almost insurmounta- 
ble difficulties which he, as a proprietor, had to encounter in the establish- 
ment of this colony, and after having expended a large sum upon it, he at 
last determined to assign over to a company in London the right confirm- 
ing it, reserving to himself the fifth part of all gold and silver ore." * 

Sir Walter Raleigh, I have observed, has been called the father of 
American colonization ; for before his enterprises, which have been re- 
lated, were made, no colony was established in any part of North America ; 
and they probably, by drawing public attention to this hemisphere, led to 
those which were subsequently sent to the more northern portions of it, 
and the settlement of New England. 

" He had now raised himself, principally by his individual merit, to a 
station of rank and distinction, and was particularly favored by his sove- 
reign, in a reign in which the royal munificence was confessedly appor- 
tioned with economy, though with discernment." 

Circumstances, however, soon occurred, which laid the foundation of ai'l 
the future troubles that befell him. The jealousy which the Earl of Lei- 
cester, the favorite Minister of Queen Elizabeth, began to entertain of his 
rising character, was exerted to undermine his influence at court ; and 
dying soon after, it is believed he imparted his feelings to the Earl of 
Essex, his son-in-law and successor, who became, afterward, the rival 
competitor of Raleigh for the favor of the Queen. 

The love of enterprise still continued to hold its sway in the mind of 
Raleigh, and we find him at this period engaged in an important naval expe- 
dition, which he with some of his friends, set on foot, and which resulted 
in the capture of one of the largest ships belonging to Portugal, and the 
richest prize that had ever been brought into England. 

He had not been long returned from this expedition, when he began to 
feel the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth from an incident which occurred at 
court — but whether it was before or after he went to sea, does not appear ; 
and whose dissatisfaction was so great, that she caused him to be sent to 
the Tower. He remained in confinement until late in September, 1592, 
and on his liberation proceeded to the west of England, to look after his 
share in the rich prize, which appears to have been great. 

* Cayley, vol. 1. pp. 127-144. , 



ELDORADO. 

In the session of Parliament of the ensuing winter, he makes a con- 
spicuous figure, and his endeavors to recover the royal favor seem speedily 
to have been crowned with success. He entertained the hope of being in- 
eluded in the list of privy counsellors ; and the Queen made him a grant 
of the castle and manor of Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, which had been 
acquired by the Crown.* But, notwithstanding the rewards he received 
for his public services, the Queen, from the incident which had occurred 
at court, although by his subsequent conduct he did all he could to make 
amends, never afterward regarded him with that complacency she did 
before. 

Before the close of 1594, he retired to his castle at Sherborne,f either 
as a kind of honorable exile from the royal eye, or for the purpose of pre- 
paring and maturing a project which then engaged his mind. Foreign 
voyages of discovery, which had been the leading pursuits of his life, 
to which not only his time, but his fortune had been devoted, had not, it 
may be supposed, been forgotten by him. Although the colonization of 
Virginia was attended with so many obstacles that he was induced to 
relinquish it, his enterprising genius, combined with the extensive informa- 
tion he had acquired of the newly discovered hemisphere, could not fail 
to find other regions in which it might be exerted, and a field of exploration 
then opened upon him, that roused again his ardor for maritime enterprise 
and discovery. 

In the words of Mr. Cayley, " In perusing the narratives of Spanish 
voyages, he had found frequent mention of the wealth of Guyana, and 
especially of the riches of the great and golden City of El Dorado. These 
flattering accounts of this land of magnificent promise having been con- 
firmed to him by oral testimony, added to the circumstances in which 
he stood at court, made him resolve to attempt the conquest of it in behalf 
of her majesty." ^ 

And from this period commenced the expeditions which he successively 
made to South America, for the conquest of Guyana and the discovery of that 
splendid city ; a project which thereafter engaged his principal attention, 
to which the remainder of his life was devoted, and for which it was, in 
the end, sacrificed. 

By the aid of his friends, the lord high Admiral Howard, and Sir 
Robert Cecil, one of the privy council, he provided a squadron which 
sailed on the sixth of February, 1595, for Guyana, and which he accom- 
panied in person. 

On his return he published the narrative of this voyage, which has 
been mentioned in the Introduction, containing, among other extraordina- 
ry relations, a repetition of the rumor of the existence of this splendid 
City of El Dorado, in the unexplored parts of South America, so long 
sought in vain, and which he described as situated in the interior of Guya- 
na — relations which I propose to examine ; and, in doing so, an attempt 
will be made to explain the origin of a fable, as I may in anticipation venture 

* Cayley, vol 1. pp. 87—103. t Cayley. vol. 1. p. 150. J Cayley, vol. 1. p. 155. 



EXPEDITION OF BELALCAZAR. 7 

to call it, which so dazzled the imaginations of the first conquerors of 
South America ; — for although it has now entirely passed away, as one of 
those illusions which have sometimes captivated the human mind and 
been forgotten, except " to point a moral or adorn a tale ;" * it may be 
curious to know what circumstances, greatly magnified and embellished, 
have given rise to it. ( 

Very soon after the discovery of America, and the conquests of the 
Spaniards in Peru, New Grenada, and Venezuela, a report reached them 
wherever they had established themselves, of the existence of a rich and 
splendid city, abounding in gold, yet undiscovered in the interior of South 
America, to which they gave the name of El Dorado. Such a rumor 
was well calculated to inflame the minds of the Spaniards, after having 
acquired possession of the rich cities of Quito and Cusco, and to excite irt 
them an ardent desire for the discovery of this golden region. From the 
year 1535, the most expensive expeditions were made in pursuit of it £ 
and mostly from that period until 1560, " which," says Mr. Southey in his 
History of the Brazils, " have cost Spain more than all the treasures she has; 
received from her South American possessions." Nor were they bold and 
daring adventurers alone, of no consideration, who entered on this pursuit- 
Some of the leaders were men of high official rank, who hoped, by success, 
to rival the fame and acquire the fortunes of a Cortez or Pizarro. 

To give an account of all these expeditions, would occupy too much 
space. A cursory relation of the principal of them, will be sufficient to 
explain the subject I propose to examine. 

The first expedition for the discovery of this golden country, or EL 
Dorado, was set on foot by Sebastian Belalcazar, who had the command 
in Peru ; and who, in 1535, sent two officers to seek it in the mountains be- 
tween Pasto and Popayan ; but who returned without gaining any informa- 
tion respecting it. <a 

It was next attempted in 1539, by Gonzalez Pizarro, brother of the 
conqueror of Peru. Having been appointed Governor of Quito, he pre- 
pared a very large expedition — to discover a country reported to be east of 
the Andes, and abounding in cinnamon trees, to which the Spaniards gave 
the name of Canelle — which consisted of four hundred horse. He pursued 
his course eastward ; and after crossing mountains, (a part of the Andes,) 
he came to a valley, called Zumaque, one hundred leagues from Quito. From 
this place, he went first northwardly, then eastwardly, and in a few days 
entered the country of the cinnamon trees. Not finding in it, however, a 
sufficient return for his toilsome expedition, and being unwilling to return 
to Quito without performing some great exploit, he embraced the project 
of discovering El Dorado. He communicated his design to Francis 
Orellana, who had joined him at the valley of Zumaque, with fifty horsemen, 
who encouraged him in it, and agreed to accompany him. Pizarro set out with 
one hundred soldiers, and proceeded directly toward the east. After many 

■i 

* The Spaniards have a proverb. "Happiness is only to be found in fil Dorado, which no one yet ha* 
been able to reach " 



8 ELDORADO. 

days toilsome march, he came to the river Napo, in the province of Cocas, 
the Cacique of which received him amicably, and informed him that, 
along the banks of another river, which was larger, he should find a 
country abundant in all things, and whose inhabitants were covered with 
plates of gold. Pizarro, on receiving this intelligence, without loss of 
time placed himself at the head of his cavalry, and followed the course 
of the Napo forty-three days, through an uneven country, without finding 
any provisions ; when he built a vessel to carry by water his sick and 
baggage, which he embarked in it, with fifty soldiers under the command 
•of Orellana. Orellana for some time kept in company with him ; but 
Pizarro having given him orders to go in search of provisions, as soon as 
he received them he launched out in the middle of the stream, and suffer- 
■ed himself to be carried down by the current, which was so rapid that in 
three days it took him one hundred leagues, and in nine days he came to 
the Amazon. He then conceived the project of discovering it, and sepa- 
rating himself from Pizarro ; but concealing his design, persuaded his 
soldiers that the country to which they had come, was not that which Pi- 
zarro had described to them from the account of the Cacique ; that they 
"must necessarily float lower down to discover it. He then abandoned 
himself to the winds, and thought of nothing but pursuing the course of 
the river till he should discover it, to the sea. Pizarro, after his separa- 
tion from him, returned to Quito, having wholly failed in the object of his 
pursuit. Orellana stopped at a town on the Amazon, at the mouth of the 
Napo, where he was courteously received, and the principal men came to 
him having gold plates on their breasts, besides jewels about them, and 
informed him of the great wealth there was farther down, and of another 
rich and mighty lord up the country. He proceeded three hundred leagues 
to the twenty-fourth of April, meeting with many good towns. On the 
twelfth of May he arrived at the province of Machiparo, which was very 
populous, where he was fiercely attacked by the Indians. This province 
bordered on that of Aomagua, (Omaguas.) From this place he continued 
his course to the ocean, not having obtained any information of the golden 
country ; and his voyage is chiefly remarkable from his being the discoverer 
of this river, to which his name was first given ; but which afterward re- 
ceived that of Amazon, or River of the Amazons, from the account be 
gave of a nation of warlike females upon it, whom he met with on his 
route, and with whom he had an encounter.* 

Another memorable expedition in pursuit of El Dorado, was that of 
Pedro de Orsua, a knight of Navarre. In the year 1560, a party of 
Brazilian savages, fleeing first from the Portuguese, then from the enemies 
they had made in their march, made their way, after a ten years' travel, 
into the province of Quito. They related, that they had passed through 
the province of the Omaguas, and that they had found it full of large 
towns, in which were whole streets of goldsmiths ; that they had been 
kindly received there, and for some iron which they had in their posses- 

* Hcnera's General History of America. 



EXPEDITION OF C A NETE. 9 

sion, they gave them shields which were covered with gold and set with 
emeralds. The Marquis of Canete, who had been appointed Viceroy of 
Peru, determined on sending an expedition in this direction, and gave the 
command of it to Orsua ; who was equally gratified and desirous to un- 
dertake it. Building then two brigantines and some flat-bottomed boats 
on the Rio de los Motelones, a branch of the Guallago which falls into 
the Amazon, he proceeded with his company along the current of the 
Guallago into the Amazon. Arriving in this river, he descended it until 
he came to a village called Machifaro • but heard nothing in his whole 
Toute of the golden country. With the expedition went some of the Bra. 
zilians, upon whose information it had been undertaken, and one or two 
of the company of Orellana. All, however, were at a loss about the situ- 
ation of the country. All they could say, was, that they supposed the 
country of the Omaguas was not far off, which Orsua thought probable, 
as they had now advanced, according to computation, more than seven 
hundred leagues. In this opinion he was doubtless correct, as Machiparo, 
or Machifaro, (Orellana states,) was next to the province of Aomagua. 
But, by this time murmurs and discontent began to arise amon£ his men, 
which were instigated by a party whose object, in joining the expedition, 
was to turn back under Orsua, or some other leader, and attempt the 
conquest of Peru. A conspiracy was then formed, of which Aguirre was 
one of the principal leaders, and Orsua was attacked and murdered. The 
chiefs of the mutiny nominated Fernando Guzman to be their General. 
Another expedition was formed by Aguirre, having for its object the sup- 
planting of Guzman in the command of the expedition ; and he and a 
number of his supporters were killed. Aguirre pursued his course to the 
sea,(studiously avoiding the search for this golden country,)which he reached 
after encountering many hardships on his way, and thence proceeded to 
the Island of Marguerita. On his arrival there, determining to pursue his 
project of conquering Peru, he landed on the coast of Cumana, and thence 
went to Valencia ; and after many crimes and daring actions in Venezuela, 
was put to death.* 

But it was from New Grenada, that the most expensive expeditions in 
pursuit of El Dorado, were undertaken. From the Promontory of Paria 
to Cape de la Vela, little figures of molten gold had been found in the 
hands of the natives, as early as the years 1498 and 1500. The princi- 
pal markets for these ornaments, were the villages of Curiana (Coro,) 
and Cauchieto, near the Rio de la Hache. The metal employed by the 
founders of Cauchieto, came from a mountainous country more to the 
south. These indications of gold in that region, were sufficient to excite 
a desire in the conquerors of New Grenada, to endeavor to discover the 
sources from which it was obtained ; and while their thoughts were thus 
directed to the object, their ardor in the pursuit was raised to the highest 
pitch, by accounts brought by the Indians. They reported, that by march- 
ing for a long time south, a region would be found on the banks of a great 

* Southey's Expedition of Orsua. 



1Q ELDORADO. 

.»ake, inhabited by the Omagua?. wtro lived in a large city ; the buildings of 
which were covered with silver ; that the heads of the government and 
religion wore, when discharging their offices, habits of massy gold ; that 
all their instruments, all their furniture were of gold, or at least of silver. 
In every part of Venezuela and Cumana, to which the European detach- 
ments directed their steps, they received the same accounts ; — and by In- 
dians too far separated by the distance of their abodes, to have invented a 
falsehood.* 

"Fully believing the truth of these reports," observes Humboldt, " Ge- 
ronimus de Ortal, Nicholas Federman, and Jorge de Espira, (George Von 
Speier,) in 1535 and 1536, undertook expeditions by land toward the south, 
and southwest, in pursuit of the country of the Omaguas.f 

" George Von Speier leftCoro, (1535,) and penetrated, by the mountains 
of Merida, to the banks of the Apure and Meta. He passed these two 
rivers near their sources, where they have but little breadth. The Indians 
told him, that farther on white men wandered in the plains. Speier, who 
imagined he was not far from the banks of the Amazon, had no doubt 
that thest wandering Spaniards were men, unfortunately separated in an 
expedition undertaken by Diego de Ordaz, from another direction. We 
crossed," he continues, " the savannas of San Juan de los Llanos, which were 
said to abound in gold ; and made a long stay at an Indian village called 
Pueblo de Neustra Senora, and afterward in Fragua, southwest of the Paru- 
ma de la Suma Paz. I have been on the western bank of the group of the 
mountains of Fasagus, and there heard that the plains by which they 
skirted, toward the east, still enjoy some celebrity for wealth among the 
natives. 

" Speier found, in the populous village of La Fragua, a Casa del Sol, 
(or temple of the sun,) and a convent of virgins, similar to those of Peru 
and New Grenada. Pursuing his way toward the south, and crossing 
the two branches of the Guavare, which are the Ariare and the Guayover, 
he arrived on the banks of the great river Papamena, or Caqueta. The re- 
sistance he met with during a whole year, in the province de los Chaques, 
put an end, in 1537, to this memorable expedition. 

" Nicholas Federman, and Geronimo de Ortal, who in 1536 went from 
Maracapana and the mouth of the Rio Neveri, followed the traces of Jorge 
de Espira. The former sought for gold in the Rio Grande de Magdalena 
— the latter endeavored to discover a temple of the sun on the banks ot 
the Meta4" 

But, not to name all the enterprises undertaken for this object, the most 
distinguished of the adventurers, who sought it from this region, was 
Philip de Urra, or Utre, who commenced his expedition in 1541 ; his nar- 
rative of which excited more attention than any that had appeared, as he 
was the only one, of the many who had gone in pursuit of the golden 
country, who professed to have seen it. After setting out on his march, 
he came, by chance, to a place where he learned that Quesada had just 

* Humboldt's Pers. Nar. | Humboldt's Pers, Nar. eh. xxjv. i Humboldt's Pers. Nar., eh. xxiv. 



EXPEDITION OF URRA. H 

passed, and he determined to follow his steps, and after many days toil- 
some travel, he arrived in the province of Pampamena. He took an 
Indian there to guide him ; but when they had journeyed for eight days, 
through the most frightful places and difficult passes, he suddenly left 
him. The soldiers now began to murmur ; and beginning to suffer hun- 
ger, he determined to return, but the rainy season prevented. As soon 
as the weather allowed, he took his way to Coro, and thought only of 
making fresh endeavors to discover the Golden City. From the Indians, 
through whose country he passed, he learned that there was a region inhab- 
ited by the Omegas, richer by far than any that had been discovered, but 
peopled with a warlike and ferocious race. As soon as the plains were no 
longer under water, he directed his march to that country ; and, on his 
return, gave the following particular account of his expedition. 

When he had marched until his army was reduced to forty men, the Indi- 
ans conducted him to the river Guaynavo, on the opposite side of which, 
was the city of Macatoa. He sent a message to the Cacique, to request a 
passage through his country, and an alliance of friendship with him. This 
request was readily granted by the Cacique, and when informed of the 
object of the Spaniards, he told them that the country of the Omaguas was 
indeed, full of gold and silver, but that its population was so great, and 
also so warlike, that their attempt to conquer it with so small a body of 
men, was rash and impracticable. Urra, however, was resolved to make 
it, and was furnished with guides by the Cacique, to the next one. From 
this Cacique, also, he received the same account and recommendation, 
but who agreed to accompany him to the first settlement of these formi- 
dable people. After four days' march, they arrived at a mountain, on 
ascending which, from the top of it they perceived four or five villages, 
surrounded by well-cultivated fields, and farther off a delightful vale, and 
a city of very large extent. Then the Cacique said to Urra, " I promised 
to show you the Capital of the Omegas, and have fulfilled my promise. 
Behold this famous country, whose riches the Spaniards so ardently covet. 
That edifice which elevates itself in the centre of the city, is the residence 
of the Governor, and also the Temple ; in which is an idol the size of a 
full grown woman, and the others the size of children four years old, all 
of massive gold. The population of the town is immense, and the order 
that reigns in it is admirable. Now, that you see the importance of 
the country, it is for you to reflect anew on the temerity of your project. 
If you persist in your design, I am under the necessity of leaving you." 
Urra resolved to march to the city. On approaching the four or five vil- 
lages that he had seen, he met on his way the Indian cultivators, who, 
struck with the sight of the Spaniards, white, bearded, and in a strange 
dress, took to flight. An hour afterward, the Spaniards heard in the city, 
a great noise of drums and other instruments of war, mingled with the 
most frightful cries. Night happily came on to favor their retreat. The 
next morning, at break of day, an army of fifteen thousand Omegas went 
in pursuit of them, who prepared for battle. The Spaniards displaj^ed a 



12 ELDORADO. 

valor beyond imagination. Not one of them was killed, but Urra received 
a wound. They repulsed the Omegas, and covered the field of battle with 
their dead. They concluded, however, that it was not advisable to attempt 
the conquest of the Omegas, and fell back upon the town of the Cacique 
who had been their guide. Urra was there cured of his wound ; and hav- 
ing obtained from him all the information he could, to render a second 
journey more easy, departed for Coro, with the intention of forming a new 
expedition for the same object, better adapted to it ; — but before arriving at 
Coro, he, with his most faithful adherents, was assassinated by order of 
the psuedo Governor Carvajal.* 

This account of Urra, related with so many particulars, contributed, 
more than anything else, to keep alive the idea of the Golden City, or 
El Dorado ; although, whatever circumstances may have laid a foundation 
for it, it is probably a very exaggerated relation ; and the number of the 
army of the Omegas is, on a present view of the subject, calculated to 
give to the whole the air of an extravagant romantic fiction. 

Various opinions have been entertained by writers, respecting the ex- 
istence of this rich country of the Omaguas, or Omegas, or of any other 
region of that character, on which the rumor of El Dorado was founded. 
Southey, in his History of Brazil, considers the whole an entire illu- 
sion and fable, the origin of which he thus describes : " There were, 
along the whole coast of the Spanish Main, rumors of an inland country, 
which abounded with gold. These rumors undoubtedly related to the 
kingdoms of Bogota and Tunia, now New Grenada. Belalcazar, who 
was in quest of this country from Quito ; Federman, who came from "Ven- 
ezuela ; and Quesada, who sought it by the way of the Madalena, and who 
effected its conquest, met here. But in these countries, also, there 
were rumors of a rich land at a distance. Similar accounts prevailed 
in Peru, and the adventurers from both sides were allured to continue the 
pursuit after the game was taken. An imaginary kingdom was soon 
shaped out as the object of their quest, and stories concerning it were 
not more easier invented than believed." The relation given by Philip de 
Urra, of his discovery of the country of the Omegas, he considers a gross 
.fabrication, without the least foundation. 

,' Humboldt, on the other hand, who lias examined the whole subject at 
length, expresses himself in regard to the narrative of Urra, as follows : 
" Of all the attempts made for the discovery of El Dorado, no one, an- 
terior or posterior, furnishes to history materials less equivocal than that 
of Philip de Urra. It wants, nevertheless, a great deal for me to regard 
it as a proof of the riches and magnificence of the empire of the Omaguas 
or El Dorado. It is enough, however, to induce a belief of the existence 
of a warlike nation more civilized than the rest of the Indians, who had 
built, on the borders of the lake Parima, a large city, handsome, and well 
constructed, in comparison with the miserable hovels of which the disgust - 
i 

* Be Pons Caraccas, Vol. ii. p. 254, et seq. 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME. 13 

ing hamlets of the Indians are composed; but, in fact, inferior to the most 
insignificant village in France." i 

Gumilla, in his History of the Oronoke, expresses his entire belief in 
the narrative of Urra. " I find it," he observes, " related with such an 
exact description of the country, as the missionaries of my province and 
myself have recognized, that I cannot doubt it. I have seen in the juris- 
diction of Varinas, in the mountains of Pedrara, in 1721, the brass hal- 
berd which Utre took with him in his expedition. I have been acquainted 
with Don Joseph Cabarte, who directed for thirty years the missions of 
Agrico, Guariari, and Ariari, and the Oronoke, the countries traversed by 
Utre, and he appeared fully persuaded that that was the route to Dorado. 
I knew an Indian belonging to a mission on the Meta, who had been in- 
structed by the said Cabarte, who assured me, that at the age of fifteen 
he had been taken prisoner, and passed four months in the town of Ma- 
rfraor Luaguas, and that at length he fled with four others. This Indian, 
although he knew not a word of Spanish, called all the places at which he 
had stopped on his journey of twenty-three days to the Oronoke, by the 
names which Utre had given them. He spoke of the riches and inhab- 
itants of the country, in the same terms in which the Cacique of Macatoa 
had spoken to Utre. He depicted, in detail, the palace of the King, his 
gardens, his houses, &c."* > 

In regard to the name El Dorado, it arose, according to this writer, from 
a circumstance related by the Indians, sufficiently remarkable to attract 
great attention ; — but not necessarily embracing the ideas afterward con- 
nected with it. " In the histories of Terra Firma and New Grenada, it 
will be seen," he observes, " to have had its origin on the coast of Car- 
thagena and Santa Martha, from which it passed to Bogota. A rumor 
being spread through those regions, of a wealthy King who lived in a 
country abounding in gold, and on public occasions appeared with 
his body sprinkled over with gold dust ; the name of El Dorado was 
given to him, meaning in Spanish the gilded one ; and which afterward 
was applied to the whole region, denoting the golden country. 

Others are of opinion it had its origin in Quito, and that Belalcazar 
who made the first expedition in pursuit of it, gave it to all the king- 
dom of Bogota ; and Pierre de Lempras, having made it known in 
Venezuela, gave occasion to the expeditions from that country, which were 
not undertaken for the gilded King, but a territory abounding in gold.f 

Humboldt gives the same origin to the term, but with circumstances 
somewhat different. It being reported that the fertile valley of Lagomozo 
abounded in gold, and on going there and finding the priest of the Temple, 
before offering his oblations, anointed at least his hands and face with a 
certain gum, on which was blown, with a pipe, gold dust found in the sand 
of the rivers, the name of El Dorado was given to him. £ 

* GumilJa, vol. 1. pp. 137-139. t Oumilla.vqL 2. pp. 131-132. t Humboldt's Pers. Nar. 



14 ELDORADO. 

That a nation called the Omaguas, or Aguas, existed on the Amazon 
and north of it, in the direction in which Urra pursued his route, who 
were very numerous and partly civilized, and who possessed articles of 
gold, is undoubted. D'Acugna, who made a voyage down the Amazon in 
1639, by the direction of the Viceroy of Peru, gives a particular account 
of this nation. " Three hundred and seventy leagues below the mouth of 
the Napo, begins the province of the Aguas, whom the Spaniards call 
Omaguas. It extends about two hundred leagues, and is so well peo- 
pled, that the villages are situated very close to one another. The 
habitations of the people are in all the islands throughout the whole length 
of it. This nation is the most intelligent and civilized of all those that 
dwell along this river. They are all clothed, both men and women ; 
their garments made of cotton, of which they gather a prodigious quantity, 
and they not only make stuffs enough for their use, but a great many to 
sell to their neighbors, who are much pleased with their beauty. One 
hundred and thirty leagues from the commencement of the province, that 
is, about two-thirds of the distance down it, comes in the river Potamayo, 
which rises in the mountains of Pasto in New Grenada. There is abun- 
dance of gold found in the sand and gravel of this river, and we were as- 
sured the banks of it were well peopled. The natives that dwell on it are 
the Yarinas, the Guaraicas, the Purianas, the Tyes, the Abynes, the 
Cuvas ; and those that are nearest to the source, dwell on both sides of the 
river, as being the lords and masters of it, and are called the Omaguas : 
the Aguas of the islands call them the true Omaguas." The first expe- 
dition made for the discovery of El Dorado, which was by Belalcazar, 
as will be recollected, was directed to the mountains between Pasto 
and Popayan, in the very direction where these Omaguas, abounding in 
gold, are here placed. That they had various gold ornaments, there can 
be no room to doubt. In the voyage of Orellana, it is related he stopped 
at a town near the Napo, where the principal men came to him, having 
gold plates on their breasts, and jewels about them, and informed him of 
the great wealth there was farther down. D'Acugna speaks also of a 
place lower down, where these ornaments were seen. The first village 
which Texeira, in his expedition from the Brazils, met with on this river 
after he entered it, one hundred and twenty leagues west of Rio Negro, 
he called the Golden Moon ; because he found some pieces of gold there, 
which these people had received in exchange from those Indians that wear 
plates of gold at their ears and noses. " Whence," inquires D'Acugna, 
" had the people of this village these gold ornaments ? This I made the 
discovery of by interpreters I had with me. Fourteen leagues below this 
town, on the north side, comes in the river Yupura, (called Caqueta at 
its source,) by sailing on which you meet with the river Yquiari, which 
is that the Portuguese call the Golden River. It springs from a mountain 
hard by. Here the natives amass gold together in prodigious quantities. 
They find it all in spangles or grains of good alloy ; they beat these small 



AURIFEROUS SOILS. 15 

grains of gold together, till they form those little plates of gold they hang 
at their ears and noses. The people that find this gold are Yuma-guaris, 
for yuma signifies metal, and guar is those that gather it." There 
seems to be little doubt, that this name, Yuma-guaris, or Yum-aguaris, is 
no other than Omaguas. Omaguas, says Southey, is not the original 
and real name of this nation, but Cambevas. 

It appears further, from the following from d'Acugna, that the Omaguas 
may have obtained some of their gold ornaments from Peru. " Fifty leagues 
below the mouth of Potamayo, we found on the other side, (the south) the 
mouth of another fine large river, which takes its rise near Cuzco, and 
enters into the Amazon. The natives call it Yotan ; and it is esteemed, 
above all the rest, for its riches and the great number of people it contains, 
the names of whom are the Tipanas, the Gavianes, the Omanes, the Morras, 
the Nannos, the Conomamas, Marravas, and the Omaguas, who are the 
last nation that dwell upon this river toward Peru. This nation is ac- 
counted to be very rich in gold, because they wear great plates of gold, 
hanging at their ears and nostrils." 

There being such a people on the Amazon and extending north to the 
source of the Potamayo in the Andes, as also on the south toward Peru, 
who were the most intelligent and civilized of all the natives on the Am- 
azon, lived in well-peopled villages, were all clothed in cotton garments, 
the cloth of which was made by themselves, abounded in gold, and wore 
gold ornaments ; — it is probable they were the nation whom Urra professes 
to have seen, and of whom he has no doubt drawn an exaggerated account. 
The images of gold which he relates he observed in the Temple, we are 
not required, totally, to disbelieve ; as they may have been obtained by 
means of their intercourse with Peru. 

With the opinions expressed by the writers whom I have mentioned, as 
to the existence of gold in this region, Humboldt fully accords. " The 
rivers that rise on the eastern declivity of the Andes," he observes, " for 
instance, the Napo, carry along with them a great deal of gold ore, even 
when their sources are found in trachytic soils. The notions collected by 
Acienha, Father Fritz, and Condamine, on the stream-works of gold, 
south and north of the Rio Uyapes, agree with what I learned of the auri- 
ferous soil of those countries. However great we may suppose the com- 
munications that took place before the arrival of the Europeans, they 
certainly did not draw their gold from the eastern declivity of the Cordil- 
leras. This declivity is poor in mines anciently worked ; it is almost 
entirely composed of volcanic rocks in the provinces of Popayan, Pasto, 
and Quito. The gold of Guyana, probably came from the country east 
of the Andes. Why may there not be an alluvial auriferous soil to the 
east of the Andes, as there is to the west ?" 

The expeditions in pursuit of El Dorado, which have been related, it 
has been seen, were directed toward the country lying between the Am- 
azon and the Rio Negro, Other enterprises in pursuit of it, were made 



16 EL DORADO. 

at an early period, to the region lying east of the Oronoke, sometimes from 
New Grenada, and at others by ascending this river from its mouth. j 

" Diego cle Ordaz, in 1531, and Alonzo de Herrera, in 1535," observes 
Humboldt, " directed their journey along the banks of the lower Oronoke, 
of which he has given the following account : 

" Ordaz, named Adelantado of all the country which he should conquer 
between Brazil and the coast of Venezuela, began his expedition by the 
mouth of the Amazon. He there saw in the hands of the natives, 'eme- 
ralds as big as a man's fist.' They were, no doubt, pieces of those 
sausurite-jade, or compact felspar, which we brought home from the 
Oronoke, and which M. de la Condamine found, in abundance, at the 
mouth of the Rio Topayos. The Indians related to Ordaz, that on going 
up during a certain number of suns, toward the west, he would find a 
large rock of green stone ; but before they reached this pretended moun- 
tain, a shipwreck put an end to all further discovery. The Spaniards 
saved themselves in two small vessels. They hastened to get out of the 
mouth of the Amazon, and the currents led Ordaz to the coast of Paria, 
where Sedeno had erected a fortress, when he resolved to attempt an 
expedition up the Oronoke. He ascended it as far as the Meta. The 
Indian guides he employed, advised him to go up the Meta, where, in 
advancing toward the west, they expected he would find men clothed, and 
gold in abundance. Ordaz pursued, in preference, the navigation of the 
Oronoke ; but the cataracts of Tabaje (perhaps those of Atures,) com- 
pelled him to terminate his discoveries. 

" Herrera, the treasurer of the expedition of Ordaz, was sent, in 1533, 
by the Governor, Geronimus de Ortal, to pursue the discovery of the 
Oronoke and the Meta. He lost nearly thirteen months between Punta 
Barima (near its mouth) and the confluence of the Caroni, in constructing 
fiat-bottomed boats, and making the preparations indispensable for a long 
voyage. As the Rio Meta, on account of the proximity of its sources and 
of its tributary streams to the auriferous Cordilleras of New Grenada, 
enjoyed great celebrity, Herrera attempted to go up this river. He 
there found nations more civilized than those of the Oronoke. He was 
killed in battle by a poisoned arrow ; and, when dying, named Alvarede 
Ordaz, his lieutenant, who led the remains of the expedition (1535) to the 
fortress of Paria."* I 

Among the adventurers who sought the Golden City in this region, was 
De Serpa, who, about this time, came from Spain with three hundred 
soldiers, and landed at Cumana, intending to cross over to the Oronoke ; 
but before he reached it, he was attacked by the Wikiris (Guykeries) and 
overthrown, with the greatest loss, eighteen only of his men being saved. 

Somewhat later than this, an expedition, on a large scale, was under- 
taken toward this region, in the same pursuit, by the Marquis Gonzalez 
de Quesada, Viceroy of New Grenada. He departed with two hundred 

* Humboldt's Pers. Kar., cliap. xxiv. 



EXPtM>ITION OF BERREO. 17 

men. But, after a journey attended with infinite trouble, he came to 
Timina in 1543, having lost almost all his men. So fully persuaded, 
however, was he of the existence of this golden country, that on giving 
his daughter in marriage to Antonio de Berreo, afterward Governor of 
the Island of Trinidad, he required, his promise, under oath, to undertake 
the discovery of it. 

Berreo, in fulfillment of the promise he had made, and probably him- 
self entertaining the firmest belief, not only of the reality of such a gold- 
en country, but that it existed in the direction in which Quesada sought 
for it, viz : east of the Oronoke, in the interior of Guyana ; set on foot 
an expedition to discover it, on a still more extensive scale than his father- 
in-law. He commenced his journey at the head of a troop of seven hun- 
dred cavalry, and descended the Cassanar, a tributary of the Meta, down 
which he proceeded into the Oronoke ; but, after a twelvemonth's journey, 
losing daily some of his men, he could obtain no information of Guyana 
until he came to the province of.Amopaia, on the last river, "where it 
was well known and celebrated, which province itself was rich in gold." 
The inhabitants at first refused to have any intercourse with him, and he 
had many engagements with them ; but at the end of three months they 
made peace with him, and presented him with ten images of fine gold, and 
various plates and crescents. From this place, as soon as sprint opened, 
he endeavored to enter into Guyana, southward from the Oronoke ; but the 
rocky and mountainous character of the country, and the thick impervi- 
ous woods with which it was covered, rendered it impracticable ; and he 
apprehended opposition from the natives, who had been apprised of his 
intention. He then descended the Oronoke to its mouth, and there stopped 
at a province on the south side, which was called Emeria, whose Cacique 
was Carapana, where he met with a favorable reception ; and findino- it 
abounding in provisions, he remained there six weeks, and from the Cacique 
" "learned the proper way to enter into Guyana, and of its riches and magni- 
ficence." Although he failed in accomplishing his object, the informa- 
tion which he obtained from this chief and that of Amopaia concerning this 
region, with the accounts he received after his arrival at Trinidad, from 
others respecting it, led him still to entertain the idea of exploring and 
conquering it ; and for that purpose, he sent to .Spain and obtained from the 
King a patent for its discovery ; and in pursuance of his grant commenced 
measures to acquire possession of : this country, which brought upon him 
the enmity of the Charibees, on the Oronoke, and laid the foundation of 
their subsequent persevering hostility to the Spaniards.* 

*Cayley'sIiifeofKaleigh. 

--' ..v c. £s 



CHAPTER II. 

ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL EXPEDITIONS MADE BY RALEIGH TO GUYANA — NOTICE 
OF HIS NARRATIVE GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF EL DORADO IN THE INTERIOR 
OF IT, SITUATED UPON A GREAT LAKE — OPINIONS OF GEOGRAPHERS AS TO 
THE EXISTENCE AND SITUATION OF SUCH A LAKE. 

But it was the celebrated expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh to Guyana, 
which fixed in general opinion the supposed Golden City, or El Dorado, 
in this region. The causes which led to it have been related. It has 
been seen, that he was engaged, from an early period of his life, in voya- 
ges of discovery to foreign parts, and for several years in attempts to 
colonize Virginia ; and although his favorite pursuit, had been for some 
time interrupted by his employment in public affairs, as soon as the dis- 
satisfaction of the Queen with him, and his exile from court, led him to 
seek the retirement of a country residence, his attention was again turned 
to it ; and the discovery of the Golden City, or El Dorado — believed by 
him to be situated in Guyana — and the conquest of that country, occupied 
his mind ; but which appear to have been some time before in his con- 
templation, and required only the circumstances in which he was now 
placed, to give them life and activity to exert a controlling influence over 
his thoughts. 

" Many years before," he observes in the preface to his narrative, " I had 
knowledge by relation of that mighty, rich and beautiful Empire of Guy- 
ana, and of that great and golden city, which the Spaniards call El Dorado, 
and the naturals, Manoa, &c."* 

From the time he first entertained this notion, he made it his business 
to collect whatever information might be obtained relative to this country, 
and the means of entering it. He then drew up instructions for an old 
experienced naval officer, whom he sent to take a view of the coast ; and 
who returned with a favorable report of the riches of the country, and 
the possibility of discovering and subduing it. Being thus provided with 
information respecting it, and encouraged by the hostility of the Charibees 
on the Oronoke to the Spaniards, he prepared an expedition to it in 1595, 
consisting of several vessels, and which he accompanied himself. It 
sailed from Plymouth on the sixth of February in that year, and arrived at 
Trinidad the twenty-second of March, where he remained several weeks : 
and " assembling all the Captains in the island, who were enemies to 
Berreo, (there being some there of other countries, who had been taken 
prisoners by them,) by an interpreter he informed them, that he was the 
servant of a powerful Queen of the North, who was an enemy to the 

* 2nd Cayley, vol. 1., p. 159. 



THE CHARIBEES. 1£ 

Spaniards in consequence of theu tyranny, and liberated those nations; 
that were oppressed by them ; and that she had sent him to free the Cha« 
xibees also from them, and to defend Guyana from their invasion and con- 
quest." In the course of his address, "he showed them her portrait, 
which they much admired ;" and he so won their good- will, that they 
called the Queen, Ezrabeta Cassipuna Aequerawona, in the Charibee 
language — which is, Elizabeth the Great Princess." His object in re- 
maining there, was partly to be revenged of Berreo for having enticed 
away four of his men, and also to collect information concerning Guyana 
and the City of El Dorado. For the former object he made ci attack on 
the fort of St. Joseph, and after putting the garrison to the sword, took 
him prisoner ; and while he had him in his power, obtained from him, as; 
far as he could, the intelligence he desired ,• — and among other accounts, 
which he received from him, was a relation which Berreo stated a certain 
Spaniard, Juan Martinez, had made to him, who professed to have travel- 
led to the Golden City. Raleigh, on this information and that he had re« 
ceived from other Spariards, resolved to attempt the discovery of Guyana* 
Finding it not practicable to enter the Oronoke through any of its branches 
with his ships, he left them at Trinidad, and proceeded up the river with 
four boats and one hundred men ; and taking an Indian pilot, ascended it 
three hundred miles, to the residence of a Charibee chief, by name Topia- 
wari, by whom he was very hospitably received. The Charibees were then, 
and still continue, the principal nation on the lower Oronoke. They are alsa 
spread over nearly the whole of British and French Guyana ; and wher 
ever they are found, hold a predominant sway — having subdued most of 
the surrounding tribes, and exterminated a number. They are the same 
nation who, at the period of their discovery by Columbus, occupied that 
portion of the West Indian Isles called the Antilles, or Windward Islands. 
Raleigh made inquiries of this chief respecting Guyana, to which he 
gave replies, which were well calculated to encourage him in prosecuting 
the enterprise. He then proceeded up the river one hundred miles farther* 
to the Caroli, which falls into it from the south ; — where, he relates, he dis- 
covered a mine of gold, and great appearance of the ore in the rocks 
generally. On his return, he stopped again at the residence of this chief, 
with whom he further conferred respecting Guyana and the means of en- 
tering it. He concluded, however, to defer an attempt to invade and con- 
quer it, to a future period ; for which he assigns several reasons. Having 
thus made an alliance with him, and promised to return the next year, 
taking his son with him as a pledge of his friendship, he returned to 
Trinidad, and from thence proceeded back to England.* The information 
which he states he collected in this expedition, on the Oronoke, con- 
firmed the previous accounts he had received in Trinidad, of the existence 
of a rich and splendid city in Guyana, called Manoa; — and by the 
Spaniards, El Dorado ; — and to which the circumstance was now added, 
that it was situated upon a great lake, 

_ ^ * Cay ley, vol. 1. ch. it. 



20 EL DORADO, 

On his return to England, he published an account of his voyage, and 
the particulars he had learned of the country he had visited, giving the 
greatest assurance, that in the expectations he had formed of its riches, 
he had not been disappointed. But from the dedication it appears, it was 
not received, at first, in England, in the manner the most satisfactory to 
him. It is probable, that his absence from his country was too short to 
extinguish the jealousy of his rivals in power. What his personal recep- 
tion was with the Queen, has not been related ; but it is clear he was not 
admitted to her court, in the first instance, at least.* 

Raleigh, agreeably to his promise to the Charibee chief, by the aid of 
his friends fitted out, the next year, a second expedition to Guyana, con- 
sisting of two vessels, the command of which was given to Mr. Lawrence 
Keymis ; but which he was prevented attending in person, England being 
at that time at war with Spain, and a powerful fleet, with a large land force 
to accompany it, being prepared to attack Cadiz. And while Essex was 
appointed Commander-in-chief of the army, Lord Effingham had the 
direction of the fleet, which was divided into four squadrons, one of which 
was assigned to Raleigh ; — a circumstance which shows that, although he 
was not reinstated in the favor of the Queen, he still maintained a high 
reputation in England, and that his abilities were availed of, whew the 
wants of his country require them.f 

v Keymis left England on the twenty-sixth of January, 1596, and arrived 
on the coast of Cayenne, in latitude 1° 46' north, and sailed along it, 
stopping at. several places, till he came to the Oronoke, which he ascended 
to the residence of the Charibee chief. But, on his arrival there, he 
learned he was dead. His country, too, had been deserted by its inhabit- 
ants, and no one was found there ; all the Indians on that side of the rivet- 
having fled and dispersed themselves, probably in consequence of the Span- 
iards — with whom they were at enmity, and against whom Raleigh offered 
to protect them — having arrived since he left, and made a settlement there 
of some twenty houses, and erected a fort on an island opposite the 
Caroli. Keymis, therefore, made no attempt to prosecute discoveries in 
the country, and returned to England. After his return, he published an 
account of his voyage ; and not the least discouraged in the pursuit of the 
enterprise in which he had taken a part, by the disappointment he had 
met with, he says in it — " Myself and the remains of my few years have 
been bequeathed wholly to Raleana, (which name he gives Guyana in com- 
pliment to Raleigh,) and all my thoughts live only in that action." This 
determination was most thoroughly carried into execution ; — having lost his 
life in an enterprise undertaken a number of years after, for this object, in 
which he was a principal actor.J 

t No sooner was Raleigh discharged from the public service, by the return 
of the English fleet from the expedition against Cadiz, than he made pre- 
parations for renewing the prosecution of this enterprise ; and the next 

. "Oiyiey . vol. 1. ?. 8BS. t Cayley, vol. 1, pp. 2&-2S6. 

-, Cayley'a Life of ilaleish, vol. 3, Appendix, Mo. X. 



SITUATION OF THE CITY. 21 

year after the voyage of Keymis, fitted out a stout pinnace, the command 
of which was given to Captain Leonard Berne,* who left England on the 
fourteenth of October, 1596, and on the twenty-seventh of February, 1597, 
made the coast of Cayenne. He sailed along the coast of Guyana^ 
stopping at different places, until he came to the river Corentine. While 
in this river, information was given him that three hundred Spaniards were 
on the Essequibo ; on which he was induced to leave it, and abandon the 
enterprise he had undertaken ; and steering for the West Indies, returned 
to England. He was accompanied by Mr. Thomas Masham, who wrote 
an account of the voyage.f , 

The relation which Sir Walter Raleigh gives of the existence of the 
so long rumored City of El Dorado, in the interior of Guyana, revived 
again the subject, which was beginning to lose its interest, even in the 
minds of the Spaniards, after their many unavailing efforts to discover it ; 
for it was now placed in a region to which their enterprises in search of it 
had never penetrated. To the English, the Dutch, and the French, who 
were all engaged in forming settlements in the new hemisphere — but whose 
attention had not, until then, been directed to South America, where the 
field of discovery and conquest was monopolized by the Spaniards and 
Portuguese — this splendid and dazzling object was presented, in a great 
degree, with the charm of novelty. 

These relations which I propose to examine, are brief, but explicit. 

" I have been assured" says Raleigh, " by such as have seen Manoa, the. 
imperial city of Guyana which the Spaniards call El Dorado, for the great- 
ness, the richness, and the excellent seat, far excelleth any of the world, at 
least so much of the world as is known to the Spanish nation. It is 
founded on a lake of Salt water, two hundred leagues long.'''' \ , 

And to account for the wealth and splendor of the city of Manoa, he 
gives a relation made to him by the Charibee chief on the Oronoke, with 
whom he made an alliance, of an invasion of Guyana by '•' a nation of 
civil and apparelled people," which Raleigh supposes to be an emigration 
of one of the Incas of Peru, who established himself in it, and built this city. 
He also states, that he was informed by an Indian chief on the Caroli, 
that at the head of it was a great lake, called Cassipa, from which this 
river takes its rise ; and also the Arvi, which falls into the Oronoke farther- 
west, and " that it is so large, that it is above a day's journey for one of 
their canoes to cross, — which may be some forty miles, — in which fall 
various rivers ; (rather from which they rise,) and that in the summer 
time, when it discharges itself by those branches, a great quantity of 
grains of gold are found there." § 

The lake termed Cassipa by Raleigh, is called by Keymis and Berrie, 
— who made the two voyages after him to this region, — from accounts they 
received on the coast of Guyana, Parimu, which is the epilation that 
in later times has been given tu it. 

* Cayley, vol. 1. p. 303. J Cnyley. vol. 2. pp. 179-180. 

t Cayley vol 1. pp. 179-180. § Cayley, vol. 1. pp. 2ES-247. 



22 ELDORADO. 

In the natural order, the first inquiry that arises on these relations is, 
■Whether there in reality exists a large lake in the interior of Guyana. 

On this subject, geographers did not at first entertain any doubt. The 
narrative of Raleigh in this respect, whatever might be thought of it in 
others, was fully believed, and the lake was immediately placed on the 
maps of Guyana. To that narrative it owes its first appearance there. 
Various opinions were subsequently entertained respecting its locality, 
and different positions assigned to it. Afterward, the existence of any 
such lake was doubted ; and it was finally entirely expunged from the 
maps. 

Guyana is that portion of South America which extends along the At- 
lantic coast, from the Oronoke to the Amazon, and is embraced between 
these rivers, which are united by the junction of the Cassiquiari, one of 
the head branches of the former, with the Rio Negro, which falls into the 
Amazon, constituting it an island. Through this region passes the second 
great chain of mountains that crosses South America, called the Cordil- 
lera of Parima. From the centre of it various rivers flow in different 
directions ; some northwardly into the Oronoke, others southwardly into 
the Rio Branco, which falls into the Rio Negro, a branch of the Amazon, 
and others eastwardly into the Atlantic Ocean, which have given their 
names to the European colonies established on it, viz: Essequibo, Deme- 
Tara, Berbice, Surinam, and Cayenne ; the three first of which belong to 
Great Britain, Surinam to Holland, and Cayenne to France. Of these 
rivers, the Essequibo is the most considerable, and the first south of the 
Oronoke, from which it is distant about one hundred miles. Its mouth 
forms a spacious bay, from fifteen to twenty miles wide, and from thirty 
miles upward is filled with low and beautiful islands. It is free from ob- 
structions about eighty miles, when commences a series of falls. Three 
Jhundred miles from its mouth, it receives the Rippununi, which flows 
from the Cordillera of Parima, the main stream rising also from the 
same chain which runs along the rear of the colonies. Of this 
liver, very worthy mention is made by Lawrence Keymis, who com- 
manded Raleigh's second expedition. In sailing from Cayenne to the 
Oronoke, he took notice of it, and thus describes it. The Indians, to show 
the worthiness of D'Essekebe, for it is very large, and full of islands at 
Its mouth, call it the Brother of the Oronoke. * It is called D'Essekebe, 
l>eing first discovered by the Portuguese, who named it Rio D'Esse- 
kebe. 

The coast of Guyana, from the Oronoke to Cayenne, is low and level, and 
of alluvial formation. In sailing toward it, on approaching the land, no 
hills or prominences of any kind are seen, but a uniform flat surface as 
far as the eye extends, in every direction except at Cayenne, where seve- 
ral detached pyramidal hills strike the coast. This alluvial formation is 
continually increasing, by the sediment deposited upon it by the various 
livers which descend from the interior, and by the flood that rushes with 

* Cayley's Life ofttal. vol. 2. p 328 



MAP OF HONDIUS. 23 

violence from the Amazon in a northwesterly direction along it, and for- 
cing its way through the Boca del Chica, or Dragon's Mouth, between 
Paria and Trinidad, into the Gulf of Mexico, there takes the name of the 
Gulf Stream. On advancing into the interior of Guyana, beyond the 
alluvial formation rising gradually upon the mountainous region, a diver- 
sified country appears. Scattered hills of various elevations, some covered 
with forests, others naked at the summit, fill the prospect. The dense 
forests are also occasionally broken by open savannas.* 

The locality which has been generally given to this lake, is in the 
second of the three great chains of mountains which cross South America, 
thus described by Humboldt : 

" The first, called the Cordillera of the coast, of which the highest 
summit is the Cilia of Caraccas, and which is linked to the Andes of New 
Grenada, stretches in the tenth degree of North latitude from Quimboya 
and Barquesimento, to the promontory of Paria. The second extends 
between the parallels of three degrees and seven degrees from the mouths 
of the Guaviari and Meta to the sources of the Oronoke, thence eastward 
to the Essequibo in Dutch Guyana, and the Maroni (Marawini) in Cayenne* 
I call this chain the Cordillera of Parima. It is less a chain than a col- 
lection of granitic mountains, separated by small plains, without being 
everywhere disposed in lines. It is not connected with the Andes of New 
Grenada, but is separated from them by a space of eighty leagues broad. 
A third chain, the Cordillera of Chiquito, unites in sixteen degrees and 
eighteen degrees South latitude, the Andes of Peru to the mountains of Bra- 
zil. These three transverse chains are separated by tracts entirely level ; 
the plains of Caraccas, or the lower Oronoke ; the plains of the Amazon and 
the Rio Negro ; and the plains of Buenos Ayres, on the La Plata. The 
two tracts placed at the extremities of South America, are savannas or 
steppes ; pasturage without trees. The intermediate basin, which receives 
the equinoctial rains during the whole year, is almost entirely one vast 
forest, in which no other road is known than the rivers. That strength of 
vegetation which conceals the soil, renders also the uniformity of its surface 
less perceptible, and the plains of Caraccas and La Plata alone bear this 
name." f 

Having given this account of some of the geographical features of this 
region, I will now relate, from the same author, in what manner the lake 
Parima was first introduced into the maps, and the mutations of opinions 
which occurred among geographers as to the existence of it, its character 
and position, during the space of three centuries. 

" Hondius, a geographer of Holland, was the first to insert it in his 
map of Guyana, published in 1599, four years after the voyage of Raleigh, 
and founded entirely upon his narrative. It was entitled, ' Nieuw Carte 
von bet wonderbare landt Guyana, besochtd von Sir Walter Raleigh, 
1594 — 1596 ;' (New Map of the wonderful land Guyana, discovered by 
Sir W. R., 1594-1596.) Like Raleigh, he makes the rivers Caroni 

* YVaterton's Travels in South America. T Humboldt's Pers. Nar. ch. xvii. 



24 ELDORADO. 

and Arvi ; branches of the Oronoke, to issue from lake Cassipa, in the 
heart of Guyana. In posterior maps, as that of Sansom in 1656 and 
1669, the river Caura, another tributary, is made to issue from it. Hon- 
dius, and other geographers, assigned gradually a more southern latitude 
to it, and it was detached from the Carom and Arvi, and took the name of 
lake Parima. Sansom in 1680, De Lisle in 1700, and D'Anville, in the 
first edition of his map, (L'Amerique Meridionale,) effaced the lake Pa- 
rima, but still religiously kept to the lake Cassipa. D'Anville, in the 
second edition of his map, in 1760, placed on it both the lake Cassipa and 
the lake Parima. La Cruz, who made his great map of South America 
in 1775, preserved this lake, but has given it the oblong form of lake 
Cassipa ; while of the ancient lake Parima, the axis was from east to 
west. His map has been followed by all subsequent geographers. He 
was too well informed by the accounts of the missionaries, respecting the 
sources of the Caura, not to omit the Cassipa. 

Four years after the map of La Cruz, was published that of Caulin ; 
who attended the expedition under the command of Jose Antonio Solano, 
for the regulation of boundaries, but who never proceeded farther than 
San Fernando de Atabapo, on the Oronoke, one hundred and sixty leagues 
from this pretended lake Parima, which was founded entirely on the 
testimony Solano collected from the Indians. This journal is in perpetual 
contradiction to the map prefixed to it. The author developes the circum- 
stances that gave rise to the fable of lake Parima ; but the map restores 
the lake, placing it, however, far from the sources of the Oronoke, to the 
east of the Rio Branco. Two maps traced by him in 1756, were reduced 
in 1778 into one, and completed, according to pretended discoveries by 
Sarville ; who makes the lake Amucu, — which is the source of the Maho, 
one of the tributaries of the Branco, and rises near the Essequibo, — to be 
the lake Parima."* 

Humboldt, having recited the different opinions which have been enter- 
tained regarding the existence and situation of this lake, presents his 
own views on the subject, formed upon a minute and careful investiga- 
tion : 

" In the latitude of four degrees, or four and a half, is a long and 
narrow Cordillera, viz : that of Pacaraimo, Quimiropaca, and Ucucuamo • 
which, stretching from east to southwest, unites the group of the moun- 
tains of Parima to the mountains of French and Dutch Guyana. It di- 
vides its waters between the Carony, the Rippununi, and the Rio Branco. 
On the northwest of the Cordillera of Pacaraimo descend the Nocopro, 
the Paraguamusi and the Paragua, which fall into the Carony. On the 
northeast, the Rippununi, a tributary stream of the Essequibo. Toward 
the south the Tacutu and the Urariquera, form, together, the famous Rio 
Parima, or Rio Branco," (and at their junction is the Portuguese fort St. 
Joachim. The Urariquera, or western branch, is formed of the Urari- 
|Bara and the Parima, which name is also applied to the whole stream, 

* Humboldt's Pas. Nar., cli. xvii and xxiv. 



THE WHITE SEA. 25 

after the junction of the two branches, or the Branco. The Tacutu, 
which flows from the east, receives from the north, the Maho ; which is 
joined by a small stream, the Pirara, before it enters the Tacutu. All 
these tributaries of the two branches flow from this mountainous chain.) 

" The rivers at the foot of the mountains of Pacaraimo, are subject to 
frequent overflowings. Above Santa Rosa, the right bank of the Urari- 
para, a tributary stream of the Urariquera, or western branch of the Rio 
Branco, is called el Valle de la Inundation. C4reat pools also are found 

between the Rio Parima and the Xurumu More to the west, the 

Canno Pirara, a tributary stream of the Mahu, issues from a lake covered 
with rushes. This is the lake Amucu, described by Nicholas Hortsman, 
and respecting which, some Portuguese of Barcelos, who had visited the 
Rio Branco, gave me precise notions during my stay at San Carlos del 
Rio Negro. The lake Amucu is several leagues broad, and contains 
two small islands. The Rippununi approaches very near this lake ; but 
does not communicate with it. The portage between the Rippununi and 
the Maho is farther north, where the mountain of Ucucuamo rises, which 
the natives still call the mountain of gold. They advised Hortsman to 
seek around the Rio Mahu for a mine of silver, (no doubt mica with large 
plates,) of diamonds, and of emeralds. He found nothing but rock crys- 
tals The White Sea is nothing but the Rio Parima, which is still 

called the white river — Rio Blanco, or Rio des Aguas Blancas — and runs 
through and inundates the whole of this land. The name of Rippununi 
is given to the White Sea on the most ancient maps ; which identifies the 
place of the fable — since, of all the tributary streams of the Rio Esse- 
quibo, the Rippununi is nearest to the lake Amucu. I 

" In support of what I here advance, I shall appeal to a very respectable 
testimony, that of Father Caulin : ' When I inquired of the Indians, 
(says the missionary, who sojourned longer than I, on the banks of the 
lower Oronoke,) what Parima was ; they answered, that it was nothing 
more than a river that issued from a chain of mountains, the opposite 
sides of which furnished waters to the Essequibo. 5 " Caulin, knowing 
nothing of lake Amucu, attributes the erroneous notion of an inland sea 
to the inundations of the plains. " I have no doubt," he says, " that one 
of the upper branches of the Rio Branco, is that very Rio Parima which 

the Spaniards have taken for a lake From the whole of these 

statements, it follows : 1 . That the laguna Rippununi, or Parima of 
Raleigh, is an imaginary lake formed by the lake Amucu, and the tribu- 
tary streams of the Urariquera, (the western branch of the Branco,) 
which often overflow their banks. 2. That the laguna Parima of Sur- 
ville's map, is the lake Amucu which gives rise to the Rio Pirara, and 
conjointly with the Mahu, Tacutu, the Urariquera, Rio Parima, properly 
so called, form the Rio Branco." 

There is, perhaps, no region in South America so little known as this, 
which Humboldt has described as the locality of the lake. It has never 
yet been passed over by any of the civilized race, who has given an ac 



26 EL DORADO. 

count of it; and all the information known of it in Europe, is conjectural 
founded on intelligence obtained by three or four travellers, respecting 
the countries bordering on it, on the east and west. A journey has never 
yet been made, so far as is known, by any other than the wild inhabitants 
of that region, either westward from the sources of the Essequibo to the 
Oronoke, or eastward from the Oronoke to this river. A veil of obscurity 
has hung over its thick forests and lofty mountains, from which, ever since 
the close of the sixteenth century, wonderful tales have issued and been 
spread by the Indians, to amuse the credulity of Europeans. 

The only instances in which even its confines have been visited by 
travellers, are, remarks Humboldt, the following: 1. In 1735, Nicholas 
Hortsman, who came from the Essequibo, passed up the Rippununi, 
and then by a short portage to the Pirara, a tributary of the Tacutu, by 
which he descended to the Branco, and proceeded to the Brazils. 2. Don 
Antonio Santos, in pursuit of El Bprado in 1775, ascended the Caroni, 
and then one of its branches, the Paragua, and crossing over the Cordillera 
came to the Uraripara, which falls into the western branch of the Branco, 
each passing over the extremes to the east and west of this region. 3. 
In 1793, Colonel Barata, of the first regiment of the line, of Para, went 
twice from the Amazon to Surinam, on affairs of his government, by the 
same portage of Rippununi, which Hortsman went over. 4. Still more 
recently, in the month of February, 1811, some English and Dutch colo- 
nists arrived at the portage of Rippununi, to solicit from the commander 
of the Rio Negro, permission to proceed to the Rio Branco ; and the com- 
mandant having granted their request, these colonists arrived at St. Joa- 
chim, in their boats." 

Humboldt himself, did not proceed up the Oronoke, but a short distance 
beyond Esmeralda, the last Christian post on it, which is some degrees 
west of the locality generally given to this lake. The information which 
he obtained of this region, on which he founds the views he has presented 
of it, was derived from the new maps in the hydrographical depot of Bra- 
zil, in which are very minutely laid down, the various streams that de- 
scend southwardly from the Cordillera of Parima ; from some communi- 
cations made to him respecting them, by Portuguese, whom he saw at 
San Carlos, on the Rio Negro, and from the journals of Hortsman and 
Santos, of both of which he had a perusal. 

Respecting a region so little known, and so interesting, as the space 
between the sources of the Oronoke and Essequibo, in which the lake 
Parima has been generally placed, any additional information cannot but 
be desirable. That which Humboldt obtained was received in Spanish 
and Portuguese territories, on the west of this district. It must be obvious, 
however, from a sight of the map, that the borders of the Essequibo on 
the opposite side — the name of one of whose branches, the Rippununi, has 
been sometimes given to the lake — furnishes the most favorable channel 
•to obtain intelligence respecting it. It was on the coast of Guyana that 
the name, Parima, was first heard applied to it. Raleigh, himself, i»ad 



THE ESSEQUIBO. 37 

Only a general idea of the situation of the lake Cassipa, but Keymis and 
Berrie, who commanded the two succeeding expeditions, sent out by him 
to these regions, heard of a lake in the interior of Guyana called Parima, 
and of its precise locality. On the Essequibo river, he was informed, 
"that it lieth southerly into the land, and from the mouth they pass into 
the head in twenty days ; when, taking their provision, they carry it on 
their shoulders one day's journey. Afterward, they return for their 
canoes, and bear them to the side of a lake, which the Jaos call Ropo- 
nowini, the Charibees Parima ; which is of such bigness, that they know 
no difference between it and the main sea. There are infinite numbers 
of canoes in this lake, and I suppose it is no other than that on which 
Manoa standeth." * 

On the Corentine river, Berrie was informed by an Indian, who came 
from the Essequibo, " that the Essequibo leads so far into the country, as 
to be within a day's journey of the lake Parima, and that the Corentine 
doth meet it up in this land;" inconsequence of which information, 
"he intended to have discovered a passage into that rich city." f He 
actually proceeded some distance up this river in his boats ; but when he 
had passed the first falls he heard accounts of the ferocious character of 
the Ackoways, and that five days farther there was another fall, which 
was not passable. He was also told, that by ascending the river farther 
!* he would make those Indians his enemies," which he believed would be 
to the disadvantage of Raleigh, when he came himself; as he was informed 
there was on this river great store of gold. He therefore returned with 
his boats to the ship, and left the river. 

Having, as I have observed in the Introduction, visited, some years 
since, British Guyana, through which the Essequibo river flows, several 
of whose branches rise in the locality generally given to the lake Parima ; 
1 was very desirous of obtaining some information respecting it, and the 
state of the population about it, in a region so favorable for the purpose, 
and will relate the facts I was able to collect on the subject. 

A work by a historian of Holland, Hartsinck, entitled ' Beschry ving 
van Guyana,' (Description of Guyana,) published in 1770, affording some 
information on the subject, came to my knowledge, from which I make 
the following extract : " The Essequibo river sixty miles from its mouth, 
receives the Mazerouni. The Cayouni unites with the Mazerouni four or 
five miles before the river falls into the Essequibo. The first port on the 
Essequibo, called Arinda, is on an island at the commencement of the 
falls. After passing them, on the west side, comes the river Arassarou, 
and farther upon the same side, the Siperouni. About eight miles higher, 
the Essequibo receives the Rippununi. The number of falls, as far as 
this river, is thirty-nine. The Rippununi is seventy miles in length ; 
flowing first for half the distance from the south, and in the other half 
pursuing a course of east-northeast. West of the point where it makes 
this turn, is a small river which flows from a lake, nearly half an hour's 

* Cayley, vol. 2. p 328. f Cayley, vol. 3. p, 377. 



28 ELDORADO.' 

distance, about four miles long and two broad. Two miles west of this 
lake is a larger one, called the lake Amucu, nine or ten miles long and 
five or six broad, overgrown with reeds, and having some islands in it. 
From this lake, on the south side, flows the river Pirara, which unites 
with the Maho, both which then join the Tacutu, which falls into the Rio 
Branco, called by the Portuguese Rio Blanco, or the White river, and 
then into the Rio Negro, or the Black river, so that a passage may be 
made from our settlements by these rivers, through the country to the 
river Amazon. Lake Parima, which by many travellers is thought to 
be even the Golden Dorado, which is to be found only in the imagination 
of Sir Walter Raleigh and the Spaniards, according to accounts of the 
Spanish court transmitted to M. D'Anville, and some information from our 
settlements, is established certainly to be between the Mazerouni and Cay- 
ouni, west of lake Amucu and east of the Oronoke ; and is said to be a 
very great and deep lake. I will not dilate on its shape and situation, and 
the relations made in former times of the inhabitants on its borders, their 
riches, &c. Yet we can assure the reader, that none of the European 
settlements are better adapted for the discovery of the interior of Guyana, 
between the Rio Negro and the Atlantic Ocean, than those of Essequibo ; 
considering the course of this river, the friendship of the Indians, and 
their ancient and implacable enmity to the Spaniards. The Mazerouni 
runs north-eastwardly, in a right line out of lake Parima. The Cayouni 
receives the river Menou, on which the Spaniards had a mission ; farther 
up it receives the Iruari, which flows from the southwest, also, out of 
this lake." 

In the above extract, it will be seen that the existence of lake Parima 
is positively stated by this writer; and the locality which he gives to it 
agrees with that assigned to it by D'Anville, who, according to Humboldt, 
makes it communicate with the Essequibo, by the Mazerouni and Cayouni. 

The following information I received on this subject from a very 
authentic source, and which places the lake in the same locality. 

A gentleman who administered the government of the colony of Demerara, 
from the year 1765, to 1771, and afterward removed to the United States, 
in answer to some inquiries I made of him on the subject, gave me the 
following information : That his public functions leading him frequently to 
the Essequibo river, to attend at the seat of government of the colony of 
that name, to which that of Demerara was subordinate, lake Parima became 
a subject of attention to him, from the relations of the Indians ; and his 
curiosity being excited respecting it, he directed the commander of one of 
the military posts to proceed up the river to its source, and inquire into 
it; — who, on his return gave the following statement, founded in his own 
personal observation, that what was called lake Parima, was an inunda- 
tion of a tract of land at the head of that river, during the rainy season ; 
from the vast quantity of water, that falls in that region, not being able 
immediately to discharge itself into the several streams that flow out of 
it ; but which happens in the dry season, when the tract becomes perfectly 



DEMERARA COMMISSION. 29 

bare, except that there remains a small pond ; and that the neighboring 
Indians daily come to the spot, before sunrise, to gather a substance which 
they called salt ; — a quantity of which was brought and delivered to him 
by the officer, which, on examination, he found to be saltpetre. , 

• Accounts which I received from several other sources in that country, 
further elucidate this subject. I had the perusal of a journal, made by 
one of a commission sent by the government of Demerara, in 1810, to the 
Charibee chief, or Cacique, at the sources of the Essequibo river, who 
styles himself king of all the Indians in British Guyana. This commis- 
sion originated in the following circumstance : — During that year, he 
descended this river, and made a visit to the government of Demerara, 
at Georgetown, to open the way for an amicable treaty with it ; and to pro- 
mote it, made strong representations of the extent and power of his nation, 
and the number of men whom he could bring into the field. Of the 
correctness of his statement, the Governor and court of policy were una- 
ble to form any opinion ; f6r, the remote country where he resided, was 
entirely unknown ; not only never having been described by any travel- 
ler, but had been very rarely visited by any colonist, from the impedi- 
ments existing to ascending the Essequibo, by the great number of falls 
in it, and the dread of the native tribes at its sources, including the Cha- 
ribees — generally considered to be of a very ferocious character. The 
Government was, therefore, induced to appoint a commission to visit him. 
The individuals composing it, are the English and Dutch colonists, men- 
tioned by Humboldt, as the fourth instance in which this region has been 
visited by travellers of European origin. They were the following per- 
sons :— Dr. Hancock, a medical gentleman, a native of the United States 
then resident in Demerara, who had devoted much attention to the natu- 
ral history of Guyana, and was placed at the head of this commission. 

Captain S , of the burgher militia, and the third, a gentleman long 

resident in that colony, and well-acquainted wifti it. Dr. Hancock re- 
moved some years after to London, and published a work on his favorite 
subject ; and, in 1834, a pamphlet entitled " Observations on Guyana," 
in which he proposes a plan for colonizing the interior of it. and refers to 
this expedition. I have been in expectation of seeing a more extended 
work from his pen, on that country — having travelled extensively about it — 
but saw his death some time since announced. Captain S. kept a journal, 
which is a plain narrative of events, and is the one I have mentioned, i 
. From this journal I extract the following remarks, from which it ap- 
pears that the region at the head of the Essequibo, from which the Rippu- 
nuni and Siperouni flow easterly into it, and the Pirara and Maho south- 
wardly, into the Tacutu, is a high table- land, on which the mountains 
that form part of the Cordillera of Parima, which passes through it, are 
arranged in separate groups, between which there are extensive savan- 
nas, sometimes inundated ; — which is agreeable to the account Humboldt 
gives of the Cordillera of Parima, " that it is less a chain, than a collec- 
tion of granitic mountains, separated by small plains, and without being 



3Q ELDORADO, 

everywhere disposed in lines :" and that there is a short portage from the 
Rippununi to the Pirara, which the commissioners verified by passing 
through this channel of communication to the Portuguese fort St. Joachim, 
on the Rio Branco — a fact also stated by Humboldt. This extract also 
contains some particulars relative to the state of the population in this re* 
gion. 

The commissioners left the post on. the Mazerouni, and ascended the 
Essequibo, December sixth, 1810. On the twenty-fourth they passed the 
twenty-eighth fall, a little below the Siperouni, and came to the mouth of the 
Rippununi on the first January. On the fourth January, they proceeded 
up this tributary as far as the Anayoca creek, which comes into it— and 
rises out of a range of mountains. They landed there, and walked through 
the forest a quarter of a mile, where a savanna opened before them ; and 
beyond it, as far the e3 r e could reach, a chain of mountains appeared, ex- 
tending from north to south, to which they walked two hours and a half. 
From these mountains the Siperouni, which has many and heavy falls in 
it, takes its rise. They found a settlement of Macoussies, between the 
mountains, of ten large houses, and about one hundred Indians. On the 
eighth January they came to another settlement, and in two hours after, 
to a very high, brown mountain — the rocks on it, scattered in a terrible 
manner, as if the country had been lately destroyed by fire : passed, 
then, over mountains resembling marble. On the ninth, they came to the 
mountains Massara, a long range, along which they proceeded in a south- 
erly direction, and arrived at mount Itaka, the last of the chain — half- 
way up which was a settlement of Macoussies, of about twelve houses j 
one of which the journalist measured, which was forty-two feet square, 
and thirty-six feet high, in which were forty hammocks. On the tenth, 
they went back on an easterly course to the Rippununi, having before 
them a range of very high mountains, called Conoko— signifying islands 
— which were of an immense length, stretching northeast and southwest. 
Southeast were the mountains Pitjabo, which separate the Portuguese 
jurisdiction ; and at mount Maho, one of the chain, is a creek, or river, 
(which, in a sketch annexed to the journal, is called the Maho). They 
passed an Ieta-bush, about one hundred rods in length, where the Portu. 
guese once came when the savanna was under water, and drew their 
canoes to the Rippununi ; and went through valleys abounding with groves 
of the same trees, and found marks where they had commenced digging 
a passage for their canoes ; but they appear to have given up the plan. 
The ground where they now draw them is plainly to be seen. On the 
eleventh, the commissioners came to Arriwasikies, a Charibee chief, 
where they remained some days, and held a conference with the Indians, 
who came in from different parts. On the thirty-first, proceeded eighteen 
miles, to a field of four acres, under the mountains Conoko, which the 
Macoussies had planted for him — for which, he paid with the articles he 
had received from Government. On the fifth February, they resumed 
their course up tne Rmoununi. and ascended it for eight days with diffi- 



DEMERARA COMMISSION. 31 

culty — being obliged to carry their canoe around falls, or drag it over 
shoals : at length, on the thirteenth, they came to a landing-place, which 
led to the residence of the Charibee chief, or Cacique ; and, on the fif- 
teenth, they proceeded to it, and after passing over mountains, came to a 
cabin of Wapisanas, having a single family, who welcomed them most 
cordially — and then to a hill on which were four houses of Atorays, 
circular, and about twenty feet diameter, and was received by a fine 
young Atoray, Narressibi, who invited them to his settlement, which 
was a quarter of a mile distant ; to which they went, and found five 
houses, and about thirty Indians, besides a large cabin thirty or more feet 
in length, nearly as wide, semi-circular, and open at both ends. In the 
morning, on the seventeenth, they proceeded, attended by about twenty 
Indians, to the residence of the Charibee chief. It was on the top of a 
hill ; and as soon as they appeared on one opposite, they were saluted by 
music from it — beating of drums, and playing of flutes and pipes. They 
were conducted by the Indian with whom they last staid, to an open cabin, 
where the Cacique, Mahanerwa, received them, sitting on a hamack. 
They were next welcomed by his wife, son, and son-in-law, in a most 
friendly manner. " He then offered me," says the journalist, " a seat next 
to him, and more than twelve women presented him with drink ; of each 
of which he drank, which pleased them." He mentions the following 
ceremony, performed on his entrance : Each person came before him 
and welcomed him, by pointing, or bending, the fore-finger of his right 
hand to his face. 

The settlement consisted of about ten houses, well filled with Charibees, 
Maconssies, and Wapisanas. They were industrious, and the chief was 
building a new house, forty feet by twenty-five feet, which, he said, was 
intended for the commissioners. He never works, and what was very 
remarkable, every person dressed himself off to the best advantage but him- 
self. The whole evening and night were spent with music, dancing, and 
singing. 

After completing the purpose of their visit to the Cacique, the commis- 
sioners proceeded to Moracca, a landing on the Rippununi, from which 
they set off for the river Pirara, at the foot of mount Maho ; and going 
over hills and valleys, and crossing the Pirara in five places on horse- 
back, they arrived at their destination at noon, where they found two 
canoes. The next daj' - at 1 p. m. they descended this stream, and passed, 
on the right, the river Maho — at 5 p.m. they passed the Tacutu, on the 
left, and landed at 6 p. m. for the night. The next day, they went down 
the Tacutu and stopped again at night. On the eleventh March, at 1 A. M., 
they went on, and at 1 p. m. arrived at fort St. Joachim, situated at the 
junction of the Tacutu with the Branco. 

On their return, they went up these streams to the landing-place of the 
Pirara creek. On the thirtieth March, at 9 a. m., they set out on foot for 
Morocca, on the Rippununi, and reached it at 8 p. m., after a walk of 
eighteen to twenty miles, which is the portage that separates the waters 



32 ELDORADO. 

which flow northeasterly into the Essequibo, from those winch descend 
southerly into the Branco. On Monday, seventeenth April, they proceeded, 
at 3 p. M.j by moonlight, and at half-past four, passed Maowriekero creek, 
which flows from the north — half-past twelve, crossed Wirrewiryko creek, 
which comes in from southwest ; at 3 p. m. reached Riva creek, (or river,) 
which comes in from S. southwest, a large creek. About seventy miles up, 
it has another creek, called Koitaroo, on its right side. Going up the creek 
about one and a half days, there is a landing, to walk in one and a half 
days to Mahanerwa's, and the nearest way that leads to him, passes be- 
twixt mountains. 

In this journal, no mention is made of the Xurumu, which Humboldt, 
from information received from the Portuguese, says, is a tributary of the 
Tacutu. And the journalist would not have omitted to speak of it, 
if he had seen it in his passage to fort St. Joachim, for he mentions pass- 
ing the Maho at its junction with the Pirara. May not this be the Parima, 
which might be changed into Parumu or Xurumu ? 

In another respect this journal differs from the maps. It mentions the 
Riva as a branch of the Rippununi on the east, and that the Koitaro (the 
Kardaru of the Portuguese,) is a trihntary of the Riva. Tn the maps, the 
Riva is not mentioned, and the Koitaro is made a tributary of the Rip- 
pununi. 

The savanna, over which the commissioners crossed, when they went 
from the Rippununi to the Maconssie mountains, the lower pari of which, 
the journalist observes, is sometimes under water, and that the Pirara and 
Maho rise out of mount Maho, at the south of it, must be the basin of the 
lake Amucu, as Hartsinck makes the Pirara flow from it, and is agreeable 
to what Humboldt states of the source of this stream. 
•i It is also fully established by Dr. Hancock, who was at the head of this 
commission, in the following remarks, which I extract from his " Obser- 
vations on Guyana,'"' which contains other geographical information in 
regard to this region : 

i " On proceeding up the Essequibo, we met with three great chains of 
cataracts ; or rapids ; the first chain commencing at Aretaka, sixty miles 
from the mouth. The bed of the river in the dry season, discovers vast 
quantities of vitrified, stony, and mineral substances, and appears to have 
been the seat of volcanic fires at remote periods of time. These volcanic 
products are chiefly met with among the falls incumbent on beds of granite, 
where the soil and lighter materials have been washed away. The prin- 
cipal component parts of the interior mountains are granite, and its vari- 
ous modifications, which show them to be of primitive formation ; while the 
extensive ranges toward the coast are of less elevation, and are chiefly 
composed of indurated clays with sand and gravel, and may hence be 
regarded as belonging to the secondary order. 

■ " The soil of the interior and mountainous parts of Guyana consists of a 
strong and fertile loam, being a due admixture of clay, sand, and vegeta- 
ble mould, with little calcareous earth, It contains much feruginous 



WATERTON'S ACCOUNT. 33 

matter, which gives it a yellow or reddish tinge, and contrary to what has 
been asserted of countries within the torrid zone, there are evidently vast 
quantities of iron ore among the mountains of Guyana."' 

The following will serve to give some idea of the lands farther to the 
westward, in the region of the Maconssie mountains, on the west side of 
the Rippununi : 

" Passed over a barren salt savanna, to the mountains ; ascended a 
peak, which is nearly isolated, of the range of Parima. It was very steep 
and rugged, and difficult to climb. Found here, on the summit, five large 
houses, and about twenty men, besides women and children, all Macoussies, 

stout, lusty people The top of the mountain appears sterile, covered 

with large rocks. Cassada, corn, yams, plantains, &c, are produced 
on the sides of the mountains ; and thrive astonishingly, notwithstand- 
ing the sterile appearance of the soil, which is composed chiefly of 
Indurated clay and gravel, without the least appearance of mould or 
decayed vegetable matter. The mountain is called Etaka, in lat. 3° 58 f , 
and in long. 58j° west. From this spot, we could see far along the Cor- 
dillera of Parima, Mackerapan, as also the groups of Konoko, to the 
southward, which we afterward ascended ; and at the same time, the two 
great systems of rivers lohich drain the northern and southern slopes by the: 
Essequibo and Branco, the source of the Pirara, the Malw, the lake of 
Amucu, fyc., were visible here."* 

The mountain Makerapan, which he mentions, is, he says, about four 
thousand feet above the level of the plain on which it stands, and five 
thousand feet above the sea — is steep and precipitous on the south, facing 
the savanna, but may be ascended with ease on the east, from the river 
side.f 

The same character is given of this region by an English traveller, 
Mr. Charles Waterton, who about the same time, ascended the Essequibo, 
and passed over to the Portuguese fort ; and published a work in London, 
giving an account of his travels in that, and other parts of South Ame- 
rica,:}: from which we extract the folloAving remarks : 

A little before he passed the rapids of the Essequibo, two immense 
rocks appeared, nearly on the summit of one of the many hills which 
form a wide extended range ; one of which, the northern, was bare ; the 
southern, was covered with bushes. The next day, after passing the 
Siperouni, he came to a little hill, where there was a small settlement of 
Indians. Two days after, to another on the western bank. The third day 
after leaving the last, he came to a creek, (or river,) and shortly after to the 
pass to the open country. Here he drew the canoe into the forest, and 
went through it, when a savanna unfolded itself to his view ; — about two 
thousand acres of grass, with here and there a clump of trees, and a few 
bushes and single trees scattered up and down, neither hilly nor level, 
diversified with moderate rises and falls, and surrounded by lofty hills of 

* Hancock's O'jserv. p. 59. t Hancock's Observ, p. IS, t Wanderings ia South America.' 



34 ELDORADO. 

various forms, covered with trees ; some pyramidal, others rounded ; one 
towering above the other, till they could not be distinguished from the 
clouds. His route (to the Portuguese post) from this place, was south. 
He entered the forest at the extremity of the savanna, journeying along 
a winding-path at the foot of a hill. The path, the next day, was not so 
good. The hills over which it lies, rocky, steep, and rugged ; the spaces 
between which were swampy, and most of them knee-deep in water. After 
eight hours' walk, he came to a small settlement, and in half an hour, to 
another* and thence, he proceeded in a southwest direction, through a 
long, swampy savanna, and walked for half a day in water nearly up to 
the knees. This was not the proper place to have come to, to reach the 
Portuguese frontiers. He advanced too much to the westward ; but to 
this he was compelled, as the ground on the direct course he ought to 
have taken, southwardly, was overflowed, and he was obliged to wind 
along the western hills, quite out of the way. He then ascended a steep 
and high hill, full of immense rocks, and the huts upon it were not all in 
one place, but dispersed wherever they found a place level enough for a 
lodgment ; and at the base of it stretched an immense plain, which, from 
the hill, appeared as level as a bowling-green. The mountains on the 
other side, were piled one upon the other, and gradually retired, till they 
were undiscernible from the clouds in which they were involved. To the 
south and southwest, it is lost in the horizon. The trees on it, look like 
islands, while the course of the rivulets is marked by the Jeta trees on 
their borders. He was not able to pursue his course to the next Indian 
habitation, on account of the floods of water which fall at that season of 
the year ; and took a circuit westerly, along the mountain's foot, and came 
to a large and deep creek, which he was obliged to make a raft to cross. 
After passing it, he walked, with a brisk pace, nine hours, to a small set- 
tlement of four Indian huts ; which, he observes, is the place he ought to 
have come to, two days before, had the water permitted. Although he 
crossed the plain at the most advantageous place, he was above ankle-deep 
in water for three hours. The remainder of the way was dry ground, 
gently rising. As the lower parts of this spacious plain put on, some- 
what, the appearance of a lake, during the periodical rains ; it is not im- 
probable, but that this is the place which has given rise to the supposed 
existence of the famed lake Parima, or El Dorado. 

But this is evidently the lake Amucu ; for the writer observes, in three 
hours from this settlement, is a river called the Pirara ; and from it you 
get into the Maou, and then into the Tacutu — and the Pirara ; by various 
testimonies, has been shown to flow out of this lake. 



CHAPTER III. 

INVESTIGATION OF THE CHARACTER OF LAKE PARIMA — WHAT RIVERS FLOW 
FROM IT STATE OF THE POPULATION ABOUT IT IN THE TIME OF RA- 
LEIGH CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH PROBABLY GAVE RISE TO THE IDEA OF A 

GREAT CITY UPON IT SOME FACTS REGARDING THE NATURAL HISTORY 

OF THAT REGION. 

To solve the question of this lake Parima, on which there has been 
so much doubt and diversity of opinion, I felt a great desire, while in the 
colony through which the Essequibo flows, to ascend it to its source, and 
examine the region in which it has usually been placed ; but the time lim- 
ited for my stay there, prevented my gratifying it. I was able, only a 
short time before I left it, to make an excursion up the river as far as the 
first falls. But during it, an unexpected and interesting circumstance 
occurred. Having stopped at the Indian post on the Mazerouni, which is 
a few miles before this river falls into the Essequibo, I learned from the 
Agent, that the Charibee chief, Mahanerwa, had come down on a second 
visit to the seat of government of Demerara, after a lapse of ten years ; 
but in consequenee of an epidemic which at that time raged there with 
violence, had stopped on the Cayouni, at a place a few miles from the 
post. On hearing this, I expressed to the Agent my anxious wish to have 
an interview with him, who promptly offered to gratify me, and sent a 
message to the Charibee chief, stating the desire of a visitor there, a 
stranger, to see him, and requesting him to come the post ; and the next 
clay, I had the pleasure of seeing a canoe of his come down. He was 
not in it himself, sending an answer that he was unwell ; but it contained 
his eldest son, a youth of about twenty years, and his son-in-law, Are- 
wya, who Avas of middle age, and appeared to have the command of it. 
The sight of these Charibees, from the remote wilds of Guyana, was very 
gratifying to me. Arewya had large folds of dark cotton cloth around 
his body, from the waist to his feet, the end of which was taken up and 
stuck in it. He wore no other ornaments than gold pendants in his ears, 
and his breast-plate, in the form of a crescent, suspended from his neck ; 
answering the description of the Caracolli, the peculiar ornament of the 
Charibee. The son of the chief, and the other youths, exhibited some- 
what more of the original customs. They were nearly naked ; and not 
only were their bodies painted, but their heads wci-e profusely covered 
over with paint of a scarlet brilliancy ; their faces marked with black 
streaks across their cheeks, their eyebrows painted, strings of shells 
around the neck, and the war-club hanging at their wrists. They leaped 
on shore together as soon as the boat touched it, with an elastic, buoy, 
3* 



36 ELDORADO. 

ant step, and a free, independent air, and stood erect before me. I looked 
at them with the historical recollections connected with their nation, with 
a powerful sensation ; and the scene made, has ever since remained fresh 
in my mind. 

They conveyed me to Mahanerwa's temporary cabin on the Cayouni, 
where, on entering, I saw him lying on a hamack. It was in the centre 
of it, and around the cabin were some half a dozen females, quietly occu- 
pied with some work they had in their hands ; which scene has been since 
recalled to my mind, by the description given by Labat of the industry 
and docility of the Charibees in the islands. After being introduced to 
the chief, I made inquiries of him, among other things, concerning the 
existence of lake Parima, its character, &c. He answered, that it was 
four days from his place and dried entirely, so that a person could walk 
over it, except that there remained a pond in the middle of it, which was 
full of fish, which he called cassamaima : that he had crossed over it, 
and it takes seven days to cross it : that there was there white and red 
sand, which he called mocoureeme and eereepeana. He also said there 
was rock crystal by mount Maho, which is agreeable to what Humboldt 
says he was informed by Nicholas Hortsman. Arewya said, Parima is 
in a savanna called Machewai. The water is of a whitish appearance 
and is never entirely dry, pronounced bareema. A creek, or river, quite 
black, and another quite red, goes out of it. That it was surrounded 
with white and red sand ; some of the white sand is shining and of a 
silvery appearance. High rocks are around it and also small hills, which 
have the shining appearance of glass, and that it takes four weeks to go 
round it. 

The information given by Mahanerwa is entitled to the highest degree 
of credit. Dr. Hancock, who had an opportunity of seeing him on this 
visit which he made to the coast, speaks of him in his pamphlet " Obser- 
vations on Guyana," in the most favorable terms. Alluding to a fact he 
had stated, he remarks, " on further reflection indeed I cannot doubt it, and 
I have found a note I made from the testimony of the Charibee chief, Ma- 
hanerwa, who came down to the coast in 1819, and after such a lapse of 
time, he said eight years, he came to repay my visit. A remarkable 
sensibility and mildness of manners distinguished him from the subordi- 
nate chiefs. His father had been the Caqui or Cacique of the Charibees, 
and Mahanerwa had travelled with him throughout Guyana. No one was 
so well acquainted with the country and the different tribes of Indians, 
and in long conversations, I availed myself of the information he was ever 
ready to impart. In fact, he was the most intelligent and correct of all 
the Indians I ever met with. He gave me a succinct account of the 
inland tribes at that period, besides numerous hints of value pertaining to 
the history and geography of the interior." 

Mahanerwa showed, in his conversation with me, his familiar ac- 
quaintance with the geography of the region concerning which I made 
my inquiries. Leaning out of his hamack, with a stick in his hand, 



LAKE AMDCU. 37 

he marked on the sand of the floor the issuing of the river Parima from 
the lake, the situation of the Branco, which is the name it takes after the 
junction of the Tacutu with it, the river Maho, fort St. Joachim, &c. 

Afterward, on my return to the post, I saw a Macoussie Indian, who 
said he lived near the lake and had often crossed it ; — that it takes five 
days to cross it, and that it is the same time from the Essequibo to it. 
That it is surrounded by red sand, and is formed by a river, and dis- 
charges itself into another called the Rareenee, which empties into the 
Rio Negro. 

An European colonist, residing some distance up the Essequibo, whom 
I saw on my passage down, gave me an account very similar to the 
above Indian testimony. He said, that he had been in the interior and 
over the region on which this lake is situated ; that it is in a savanna, and 
the water discharges itself in the Rippununi and Siperouni, and the bot- 
tom of it is white clay. The Macoussies dig a pit in it in the dry season 
to get water. The rocks round it are half- wooded, half-bare ; are black, 
and as the sun shines, glisten; (probably granitic rocks,) red and white 
sand are around the hills. Neither Br. Hancock nor Mr. Waterton, he 
said, went so far west. 

The view presented by the different accounts I received, which I have 
recited respecting the lake Parima, agree with the opinions of Danville 
and La Cruz, that there is such a lake in this region ; and confirm the 
opinion of the former, that the Cayouni and Mazerouni branches of it, 
also rise out of it in addition to the streams mentioned by Humboldt, while 
they show the hypothesis of Surville, that it is only the lake Amucu, to be 
incorrect. It also agrees with the idea of Humboldt, that it is only the 
inundation of a tract of country ; but do not support his opinion, that it is 
formed by the lake Amucu and the overflowings of the tributaries of the 
Branco, as it clearly appears to be a distinct body of water. Hartsinck, 
in a map published with his work, places it at some distance from the 
lake Amucu. The other testimonies I collected on the subject support 
this statement. 

It appears from them generally, that the lake Amucu, which is the 
source of the Maho and Pirara, is bounded by the Macoussie mountains 
on the west — the European colonist, whom I have mentioned, who went 
over the region on which lake Parima lies, says it discharges itself into 
the Siperouni and the Rippununi — and the Essequibo journalist observes 
the Siperouni and the Annayoca creek a tributary of the Rippununi, rise 
out of the Macoussie mountains. From these relations taken together it 
appears probable that the inundated savanna, called lake Parima, is west 
of these mountains and not far from them. Humboldt is also, I think, in- 
correct in supposing the lake derives its name from the river Parima, 
being only an expansion of it. It appears more probable that the river 
takes its name from the lake. Its distance probably is not very great 
from the Rippununi, for Keymis says that the Indians proceeding to the 
head of the Essequibo, by which he must mean this branch of it, " carry 



38 EL DORADO. 

their canoes one day's journey to a lake, which he says is called by 
the Charibees Parima, and the Jaos Roponowini." Mahanerwa, the Cha- 
ribee chief, says it is four days' journey from his place ; and from the 
Essequibo Journalist it appears, that it cannot take much less time to 
come from it to the Rippununi. 

On the whole, from the examination which has been made, it appears in- 
dubitable that there is an extensive tract inundated, separate from the lake 
Amucu, on the table-land between the Essequibo and the Oronoke, on 
which passes the Cordillera of Parima — that various streams flow from it 
northwardly, southwardly and eastwardly, of which the Parima is the 
principal — which has either given name to this inundation, or the river 
derives its appellation from it. 

The real character of this body of water, which, until recently, was 
always denominated a lake, being only a temporary inundation ; Hum- 
boldt, it has been seen, has not been willing to admit it in his map, in which 
he has been followed by subsequent geographers ; and the lake Parima 
has now entirely disappeared from the maps of South America, while the 
little lake Amucu has maintained its place, as in the large map of Arrow- 
smith, which I have made the basis of the sketch of Guyana, prefixed to 
this volume. 

And as in Guyana the year is divided between two rainy and two dry 
seasons, each of three months, and during the former it rains continually, 
the water must fill the savanna as fast as it flows out of it ; and the inun- 
dation must therefore exist for half the year and perhaps some time longer, 
as, after each rainy season, so large a body of water cannot be immedi- 
ately discharged. 

D'Anville, the most eminent geographer of his time, after all the doubts 
and controversies about it, finally inserted it in his second map, published 
in 1760 ; and La Cruz, in 1775, also in his — which has been followed by 
all modern geographers, until the publication of Humboldt. Hartsinck, 
also, who states that he obtained his information concerning it, from the 
Dutch settlements in Guyana, likewise gives it a place in his map. Fur- 
ther, Alcedo, a Spanish writer, in his Geographical Dictionary, a work 
of great authority, published in 1786, speaks positively of such a lake. 
" Parima is," he observes, " a very great lake of the province of Dorado, 
the depot of many rivers, and which discharges itself by a very large 
arm into the Rio Blanco, and by others. Some modern authors pretend 
that it is fabulous ; but, according to the latest and most certain observa- 
tions, such a lake actually exists. Its extent is not well known, and va- 
ries according to different relations. It is of a rectangular form, and the 
greater part of travellers make it eighty-two leagues (two hundred and 
forty-six miles,) from east to west. It resembles a small sea, and the 
water is saltish. On the N. N. E., rises out of it the river Cayuni, 
which joins the Essequibo. On the south flows out the Paranapitinga, or 
Yagurapiri — also called the White Water." 



T HE RAIN Y SEASON. 39 

There are some reasons why geographers should hesitate in expunging 
this lake from their maps. Although it is only a temporary inundation, 
it appears from the accounts given by the Charibee chief and others, to 
have a distinct basin — being in a savanna called by a particular name, 
Machewai ; is surrounded by rocks, and around it are white and red 
sand, and it is never entirely dry ; but there always remains a pond, 
which is full of fish called cassamaima. „... , 

Concerning the extent of this lake Parima, I am unable to form an 
exact idea from the relation of the Charibee chief — not knowing the rate 
at which the Indians of Guyana travel . A probable estimate of it only can be 
formed. He stated, that it takes seven days to cross the savanna ; and sup- 
posing that they travel at the rate of thirty to thirty-five miles per day— the 
length of the lake would be from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles. 
These are about the dimensions which Alcedo gives to it. La Cruz makes it 
one hundred miles long, and fifty broad.* Humboldt observes, that the 
northern bank of the Urariapara, one of the tributaries of Rio Branco, 
above St. Rosa, is called el Valle del Inundation, and suggests, that this 
may be only an expansion of Mar Blanco, or the White Sea — as the dif- 
ference between St. Rosa and the Rippununi, and lake Amucu, is but 
three degrees and a half — which appears probable, for this difference of 
longitude is not greater than the length of the lake, according to Alcedo. 

This great inundation is produced, as observed, by the rainy seasons, 
which periodically occur in Guyana ; and how great a quantity of water 
falls during their continuance, may be judged from the following remarks 
in Mr. M. Martin's History of the British Colonies :— " During the wet 
season, the wind is often from the S. W., and then the rain descends in 
torrents — sometimes for two or three days without intermission. At these 
periods, the sailors say, it only leaves off raining to commence pouring," 
— and, in the interior, the rain falls more than on the coast. " In the 
hurricane months," says the same writer, " when the Caribbee islands are 
ravaged with terrific tempests, vast masses of clouds — Pelion-like upon 
Ossa — advance toward the south. The mountains inland reverberate 
with pealing thunder, and the night is illuminated with faint lightning 
coruscations. Brief storms succeed. Upon the hills in the interior, the 
clouds discharge three times as much rain as falls upon the coast." p 

A circumstance stated by Sir Walter Raleigh respecting lake Parima, 
that it is a salt lake, Humboldt considers merely an imaginary idea, form- 
ed from remembrance of the salt lake of Mexico. But that his relation 
is correct, is supported by several testimonies. Lawrence Keymis, in the 
passage I have above quoted from him, calls it so. " From the mouth of 
the Oyapocke, the inhabitants pass in their canoes, in twenty days, to the 
Salt Lake, whereon Manoa standeth."f And, on the Oronoke, he was in- 
formed by a Charibee captain, " that a nation of clothed people dwell not 
far from where this river doth first take its name, and that far within they 

* Pinkerton's Geography, vol. 2. ch. i. t Cayley, vol. 8, p. 359. 



40 ELDORADO. 

border upon a sea cf salt water, called Parima."* Keymis, it is true, 
was an officer under Raleigh ; but it is very improbable that he should^ 
for the purpose of furthering his views, state a circumstance regarding 
the lake — if he had not heard it — which did not, in the least, contribute 
to support the idea of a splendid city on its borders. But that such is its 
character, is confirmed by other testimonies. In the statement made re- 
specting it by the Governor of Demerara, in 1765, " it has been seen," 
he says, " the Indians resorted to it to gather from it a substance which 
they called salt — some of which was brought to him — but which, on ex- 
amination, he found to be saltpetre." Further, Dr. Hancock says, that 
in going from the Rippununi westward to the Macoussie mountains, he 
crossed through a barren salt savanna. If such is the character of the 
soil there, it is not improbable, that of the land farther west may be the 
same. Again, Alcedo, in the passage I have above cited from him, says 
this lake " resembles a small sea, and the water is saltish." 

Lakes of this character are numerous in South America, as the Los 
Xarayes, in the flat plains of La Plata, which is formed by the col- 
lected waters of the torrents which flow during the rainy season from the 
mountains of Chiquitos. The Paraguay swelling over its banks at that 
period, inundates an expanse of flat land, under the 17th degree south 
latitude, to an extent of three hundred and thirty miles in length, and 
one hundred and twenty in breadth ; but when the waters of the Paraguay 
abate, this lake becomes a marsh. Besides this lake, there are many 
others of great size. f Further, the numerous lakes in this province are 
generally shallow, and produced by the overflowing of the rivers ; but 
they have the singular quality of being mostly saline. There is in these 
vast plains through which the rivers pass, an immense tract of land, the 
soil of which is saturated with fossil salt. It extends to the south of 
Buenos Ayres. This substance appears in the greatest abundance be- 
tween Santa Fe and Cordova, where the whole ground is covered with a 
white incrustation. . . Natural saltpetre is also collected in this part of 
the country. After a shower, the ground is whitened with it.| 

Lake Parima is sometimes called the " White Sea;" a circumstance 
which corroborates the testimony I have given, that the river Parima, 
which below the Tacutu is called Rio Branco, or Rio des Agues Blancas, 
or river of white waters, flows out of it. The whiteness of the lake is no 
doubt produced by a circumstance, stated by one of my informants respect- 
ing it, that the bottom of it is white clay. The Macoussie Indian said, it 
discharges itself into the Rareenee — by which he intended the Parima, 
for, he added, the Rareenee discharges itself into the Rio Negro. This 
word was, perhaps, meant for Areena, which is clay in the Charibee 
language — and shows that the whiteness of this river originates from the 
same cause as that of the lake. 

* Caj ley, vol. 2, p. 338. I t Bonnycastle's Soulli America, p. 348. 

5 Bonnycastle's South America, p .376-9. ., 



MARIWIN INQUIRER. 41 

This view is confirmed by Dr. Hancock, in the following remarks — nart 
of a communication made by him respecting this region, to Mr. Martin : 
" The soil of some of the upland savannas is composed of clay and gravel, 
very close, and, though apparently sterile, yielding food for the immense herds 
of cattle and horses, that pasture along the Rio Branco. Of a very pure 
white clay, there are immense masses, forming the high banks of the Esse- 

quibo above the falls The Conoko mountains form an isolated 

group, seated on the elevated plains which separate two great systems of 
rivers, the tributary streams of the Essequibo flowing N. E., and those 
of the Tacutu, Branco, &c, toward the Rio Negro and Amazon. From 
the summit of these mountains can be seen the spot where the Tacutu 
and Rippununi take their rise. The soil here is of a pure white clay, 
(not chalk,) giving to the Rio Branco, and other rivers, a milky color, owing 
to the quantity of clay therein diffused, and in such a minute state of 
subdivision, as to require several days before the water will become trans- 
parent by deposition."* 

But that lake Parima is a White Sea, and also salt, is conclusively 
shown by the following unexceptionable testimony. In the collection of 
voyages by Purchas, is an account of one made to the river Oyapoke, in 
Cayenne, by Robert Harcourt, in 1608 — which is thirteen years after the 
first voyage of Raleigh — with a view of making a settlement there ; and 
who had with him, including officers and seamen, ninety-seven persons. 
As the testimony I have mentioned, which is that of a person who accom- 
panied him, is a most valuable document in regard to the defence of Ra- 
leigh, some account of it will be given. Harcourt,, on his arrival at the 
Oyapoke, held a conference with one of the chiefs, and being secure of 
the good will of the Indians, took possession of the country, for the crown 
of England. After making some examination of the river, he appointed 
one of his officers to remain there with a party of his company, "to con- 
tinue the possession," and proceeded with his vessels and the rest, to the 
Cayenne river. From this place he went with his boat, taking with him 
" captain Fisher — his brother, Unton Fisher, an apothecary" — and about 
six more, to the Mariwin, to explore that river, and proceeded up it forty 
1 eagues, when the passage was so obstructed by rocks and shoals, and, 
finally, high falls, that he was obliged to return. Determined, however, 
to have this river examined, on going down he stopped at a town, the third 
from the sea, whose chief was Maperitaka — where, on ascending it, he 
had been very hospitably received — and at this point of his journey, he 
remarks : " At this town, I left my cousin, Unton Fisher, an apothecary, 
and one servant to attend him ; and having first taken order with Maperi- 
taka, for their diet and other necessaries, both for travel and otherwise, 
(who, ever since, according to his promise, hath performed the part of an 
honest man, and faithful friend,) I gave directions to my cousin, Fisher, to 
prosecute the discovery of Mariwini, when the time of the year, and the 

* M. Martin's Hist. British Colonies, vol. 2, ch, i. 



42 ELDORADO. 

watess better served ; and, if it were possible, to go up the high country 
of Guyana and to find out the city of Manoa, mentioned by Sir Walter 
Raleigh in his discovery. He followed my directions to the uttermost 
of his ability — being of a good wit, and very industrious, and enabled to 
undergo these employments, by obtaining the love, and gaining the lan- 
guages of the people."* 

Immediately following the account of this voyage in Purchas, is a nar- 
rative with this title, " Relation of the habitations, and other observations 
of the Mariwin," without a name. In the margin Purchas says, " I found 
this fairly written in M. Hackluyt's papers, but know not who was the 
author."! But there cannot be the least doubt that it was a journal made 
by Unton Fisher, as not only two-thirds of it is an account of the interior 
of Guyana and the city of Manoa, concerning which Harcourt directed 
him to inquire, and no other English voyager is known, at that period, to 
have explored this river ; but as the account Harcourt gives of Fisher's 
discoveries on it and other matters, agrees with the Relation, and some 
part of it is in the very language of it, as will be seen in Appendix No. I, 
where, as far as is material to the subjects I am examining, it is annexed 
entire. The account which the relater, whom I shall style the Mariwin 
Inquirer, gives of Guyana and the city of Manoa, states he received 
" from an ancient Indian, who came from the head of Surinam in a canoe 
with four others," who belonged to the Oronoke, and was of the nation 
of Yaios, a branch of the Charibees, and who speak the same language. 
He had been taken prisoner by the Spaniards, and would have been put 
to death, but because he had been a great traveller and knew the country 
well, they kept him for a guide, and afterwai'd he contrived to escape in 
a boat, and came to the river Surinam and proceeded to the head of it. 
He appears, in his travels, to have gone over the country from the Esse- 
quibo to the Oronoke, and to have given the account the relater received 
from him, from his personal knowledge ; for he said " it was a month's 
journey by land, from the head of Mariwin and the head of Disseekebe, 
and from the head of Disseekebe to the head of Orenoq, a month's travel." 

This relation of the Mariwin Inquirer is entitled to unqualified credit, 
as it proceeds from a wholly disinterested source ; Harcourt having not 
only made his voyage unconnected with Raleigh, but subsequently 
obtained, with two other persons, a grant from the crown of England, of 
the whole of Guyana from the Amazon to the space on the Oronoke, 
occupied by the Spaniards — in opposition, as far at least as regards the 
subjects of England, to his prior claims. Those associated with Har- 
court, were, therefore, also free from any bias in favor of Raleigh ; and 
that Fisher gave a correct relation of what he observed and learned on 
the Mariwin, the character given of him by Harcourt affords a full assu- 
rance. 

* Purchas's Coll. of Voyages,' 4. vol., liook vi„ cli. xvi. 
f Purchas. vol. 4, book vi, cli. xvii. 



MAP OF LA CRUZ. 43 

In regard to the subject which is under immediate consideration — the 
character of lake Parima — he has the following interesting passage : 

" The ancient Indian, likewise spake of a very fair and large city in 
Guyana, which he called Monooan — which I take to be that which Sir Wal- 
ler calleth Manoa — which siandeth by a salt lake ; which he called Par- 
roowan Parrocare Mono an, in the province of Asaccona. The Chief 
Captain, or Acariioonnora, as he called him, was Pepodallapa." 

These words — Parroowan, Parrocare, Manooan — I find to belong to the 
Charibee language, according to a vocabulary of it, as spoken in Cay- 
enne, made by Biet, a missionary, annexed to his account of his travels 
there. Parroowan, (Parona,) signifying sea ; Parrocare, (Aboirike,) 
white. Monooan, the relater considers to be Manoa ; but I shall here- 
after show, is more properly translated of the Manoas, a tribe of Indians-*- 
for Manoa, in Raleigh's Narrative, was not the lake, but a place upon 
it ; and thus the name of the lake, as given by the ancient Indian, is 
White Sea of the Manoas. 

Of the manner in which the lake Parima discharges itself, the preced- 
ing examination has shown that it may be considered indubitable, that, on 
the south, its waters flow out through the Rio Branco by various tributa- 
ries, of which the Parima is one ; and, on the east, by the principal branches 
of the Essequibo, the Rippununi, Siperouni, Mazerouni, and Cayouni. On 
the north, it has been observed, that Raleigh says the Caroli (Caroni,) and 
Arvi, both tributaries of the Oronoke, take their rise from lake Cassipa. 

The researches of Humboldt have elicited no positive information on 
this subject, but he is inclined to think the assertion of Raleigh correct ; 
for the Caroni is formed by the union of two branches of almost equal 
magnitude, the Caroni, properly so called, and the Rio Paragua, and the 
latter river is called by the missionaries of Piritoo, a lake. " It is full of 
shoals and little cascades, but passing through a country entirely flat, it 
is subject at the same time to great inundations, and its real bed can 
scarcely be discovered. The natives have given it the name of Paragua 
or Parava, which means in the Charibee language a great lake." He also 
thinks the opinion of Caulin, that the Caura, another tributary of the 
Oronoke, west of the Arvi, also flows out of lake Cassipa, or Parima, is 
to be relied on, as it was founded upon testimony collected by Don Jose 
Antonio Solano, in his expedition of boundaries. 

"On the west, in the great map of La Cruz," remarks Humboldt, 
"the Oronoke takes its rise, under the names of Parima or Paruma, 
in the mountainous land between the Ventuari and the Caura, in the 
latitude of five degrees, from a small lake called Ipava. The Rio Pari- 
ma, after a course of forty degrees east-northeast, and sixty leagues north- 
east, receives the Rio Mahu ; then enters into lake Parima, which is 
supposed to be thirty leagues long and twenty broad. From this lake 
three rivers immediately issue — the Rio Ucamu, (Ocamoo,) the Rio Idapa, 
(Siapa,) and the Rio Branco. The Oronoke, or Parima, is indicated as a 
subterraneous filtration, at the western side of the Sierra Mei, which skirts 



44 ELDORADO. 

the lake or White Sea, in the west. This strange disposition of the rivers 
is become the type of almost all the modern maps of Guyana." 

It is very probable that La Cruz formed his theory from a misappre- 
hension of reports he heard. A river Parima, it has been seen, flows from 
the lake at the south ; and a river Mahu, which comes out of the same 
chain of mountains, joins the Tacutu which enters into the Parima, which 
then takes the name of Branco. But La Cruz places them on the northern 
side of the lake. From this it may be seen, how little is known of the 
geography of this region. Even in the Spanish provinces north of this lake, 
an entire ignorance appears to exist on the subject. In a map of Vene- 
zuela and Guyana, attached to a theory of Caraccas by De Pons — who 
resided four years in different parts of them — published in 1805, in which 
the lake Parima is conspicuously laid down, he adopts the theory of La 
Cruz, in regard to a river Parima joined by the Mahu, flowing into it at 
the north. On the east he makes no stream whatever issue from it. The 
different branches of the Essequibo are placed at a distance from it. At 
the southeast corner, exactly three large arms issue, which form the 
Branco, that makes a bold sweep to the west before it flows to the south. 
No other tributary of this river, or any other stream, flows from the 
southern side of the lake. Such are the erroneous ideas entertained in 
the Spanish territories, so late as 1805, regarding this lake. The inhabit- 
ants of Caraccas and Angustura know as little in what manner it dis- 
charges itself at the south, as the Portuguese the streams that issue from 
it at the north. 

" Caulin," observes Humboldt, " in his map, makes the Oronoke rise 
out of lake Parima — but the lake he places to the east of the Rio 
Branco," — a most strange idea. 

Surville, who considers lake Parima to be only lake Amucu, substi- 
stutes for the lake Parima of La Cruz, another lake in latitude 2° 10'. 
Near this Alpine lake, rise from the same source the Oronoke, and the 
Rio Idapa, a tributary stream of the Cassiquiari. From this arrange- 
ment, altogether hypothetical, the origin of the Oronoke is no lake, and its 
sources are independent of lake Parima.* 

La Cruz, it has been observed, makes the Oronoke, by the name of 
Parima, rise out of the lake, which is a distinct fact from the other, which he 
states, that a river of that name first flows into it from the north. Caulin 
also makes the Oronoke rise out of the lake, though he places it in a singular 
location. It is not improbable this is the origin of the Oronoke, at least, 
that one of the streams that form it issues from the lake, and it is possi- 
ble it may have the name of Parima ; for it would not be extraordinary 
if the lake should give its name to more than one river 'rising out of it in 
different directions. 

There is a striking passage on this subject in the voyage of Keymis, 
which I have already cited for another purpose. He was informed by a 
Charibee captain on the Oronoke, " that a nation of clothed people, called 

* Humboldt's Pers. Nar. chap. xxiv. 



EXPEDITION OF BOVADILLA. 45 

Cassanari, dwell not far from the place where the river first takes the 
name of Oronoke, and that far within they border upon a sea of salt water, 
called Parima ;■" or, as appears to be the meaning, there was a nation called 
Cassanari, bordering upon the sea called Parima, which was not far from 
where the Oronoke first bears that name. Hence this river must have 
run some distance before, and as the lake was not far from where it first 
takes the name, it seems a reasonable conclusion that it flowed out of it. 
" The Charibees," says Keymis, " are, of all Indians, those that know 
most of the inland — a circumstance caused by their being spread over the 
greater part of Guyana, and their constant habits of trading and warlike 
expeditions. 

Humboldt was unable to elucidate this subject by personal examina- 
tion, having ascended the Oronoke only a short distance from Esmeralda, 
the last Christian post on it — a little hamlet of eighty houses situated at its 
bifurcation with the Cassaquiari. Of the causes which prevented his 
progress farther, he gives the following relation. " This river may," he 
observes, " be ascended without danger from Esmeralda as far as the cata- 
racts occupied by the Guyaca Indians, who prevent ulterior progress of 
the Spaniards. This is a voyage of six days and a half, in which dis- 
tance it receives several streams. At the mouth of the Geheite is a 
cataract, formed by a dike of granite rocks crossing the Oronoke, which 
are the columns of Hercules, beyond which no white man has been able 
to penetrate, and known by the name of the Raudal Guahariboes, three- 
quarters of a degree east of Esmeralda — consequently in 67° 38' longi- 
tude. A military expedition, undertaken by the commander of the fort 
of San Carlos, Don Francisco Bovadilla, led to the most minute informa- 
tion respecting the cataracts of the Guahariboes. He heard that some 
fugitive negroes, proceeding toward the west, had joined the independent 
Indians. He attempted a hostile incursion, from tho desire of procuring 
African slaves better fitted for labor than the native race. Bovadilla 
arrived without difficulty as far as the little Raudal, opposite the Gehette ; 
but, having advanced to the foot of the rocky dike that forms the great 
cataracts, he was suddenly attacked, while he was breakfasting, by the 
Guahariboes and the Guaycas, two warlike tribes, celebrated for the 
activity of their arrow-poison. The Indians occupied the rocks that rise 
in the middle of the river, and seeing the Spaniards without bows, and 
having no knowledge of fire-arms, they provoked the whites, whom they 
believed to be without defence. Several of the latter were dangerously 
wounded, and Bovadilla found himself forced to give the signal of battle. 
A horrible carnage ensued among the natives, but no Dutch negroes were 
found. Notwithstanding a victory so easily won, the Spaniards did not 
dare to advance toward the east-, in a mountainous country, and along a 
river closed by very high banks."* 

Informed of these facts, Humboldt proceeded up the Oronoke beyond 
Esmeralda only, as far as the mouth of the Guapo, two and a half days' 

* Humboldt's Pers, Nar. vol. 5. pp- 536—560.] 



46 ELDORADO. 

journey, which is fifteen leagues distant from the Raudal of the Gua- 
hariboes.* 

An examination having been thus made into the existence, the locality, 
and the character of the lake Parima of geographers — called by Sir 
Walter Raleigh the lake Cassipa, — the more important circumstance 
related by him, the " rich and magnificent city on its borders, which the 
natives call Manoa, and the Spaniards El Dorado," will now be considered- 

On this subject, an inquiry will first be made, without referring to the 
character given of this city, whether a place called Manoa — either a large 
city, or a considerable Indian settlement, whatever it may be — has been 
related to exist in the interior of Guyana, by any other person than Sir 
Walter Raleigh. The contrary has generally been taken for granted ; 
and on this assumption, a foundation has been laid by his personal ene- 
mies at that time, and prejudiced historians since, to consider his whole 
relation respecting it as purely his own invention — or a delusion arising 
from his vain imagination. But in this respect, as well as others, great 
injustice has been done to him. Lawrence Keymis, subsequent to him, 
at two different places on the coast of Guyana, viz., at the Oyapoke, in 
Cayenne, and on the Essequibo, " heard of Manoa, situated upon a lake 
called Parima," far within the country, and the distance to it from the 
mouth of each river. 

On the Oronoque, he also heard of it, from a Charibee captain, who 
said it was twenty days from the Wiapoco, (Oyapoke,) ; and gave him, 
also, the distance to it from several rivers between the Essequibo and 
Oronoque. Keymis, it is true, was an associate of Raleigh, and this ac- 
count might be supposed made to favor his views ; but that he did not 
copy the relation from him, and give, as it were, a second edition of it, is 
fully established by the fact that he calls the lake by the name of Pari- 
ma — while that which Raleigh gives it is Cassipa — who was not aware 
of the other, which is the name by which it has been always called, on 
the coast of Guyana. Further, it has already been observed, that the 
Mariwin Inquirer, a wholly disinterested witness, states, that the ancient 
Indian from the head of the river Surinam, spoke of a very fine and 
large city in Guyana — which he called Monooan — which, says the jour- 
nalist, I take to be that which Sir Walter calleth Manoa, which standeth 
by a salt lake, &e. 

That, a large Indian population formerly existed in the region assigned 
for the locality of this lake, is rendered probable by several considerations. 

There is at present a large collection of Indian nations in this region. 
From the Charibee chief, Mahanerwa, I received the following list of 
tribes, which, he said, inhabited about Parima, viz : Macoussies, Tibera- 
cottis, Carenacottis, Wyomeera, Wyoocooma, Sapara, Poweeana, Awaeo, 
Pareenapana, Eenao, Mako, Seewaianos. His son-in-law, Areewya, add- 
ed Mahanaos, Areewas, Braveeana, Eeponois, Cawera. The nations 
residing farther east, on the different branches of the Essequibo, I learned 

* Humboldt's Pers. Nar. p. 571 



ARROW POISON. 47 

from authentic sources, are the following : On, or near the Rippununi 
are Macoussies, Wapisanas, and some Charibees, with a few scattering 
Indians— the remains of tribes who have been reduced by the Charibees, 
and the greater portion driven away — all of whom, except this nation, 
live either on the tops of the mountains, or close to their foot ; where the 
soil is strong and productive. On the Siperouni, are Macoussies and 
Ackoways, and two or three other tribes. On the east, or main branch 
of the Essequibo, the two principal nations are the Atorays, or Atorees, 
and the Turamas, a numerous and warlike nation, besides a number of 
others. Three of these nations, the Ackoways, Atorays, and Macoussies, 
were mentioned a century ago, by Nicholas Hortsman, according to Hum- 
boldt, as residing in this locality. I obtained vocabularies of their lan- 
guages, which are, I believe, unknown in Europe ; — the two first, 
taken down by myself : also, of the Tiberacotti, one of the nations about 
lake Parima — all which are in the Table, Appendix No. V., to this 
volume. 

The Macoussies are numerous, and more inclined to industry than the 
other Indians ; but are of a very timid character — and hence, are attack- 
ed by them, and made slaves. Hostile tribes accommodate their differ- 
ences to join in an expedition against them, for this object ; and almost all 
the tribes possess a number of slaves captured from them. From these 
causes, they are reduced to a small number. They employ poison, as a 
means of destruction against their enemies ; and are the makers of the 
most virulent kind known in Guyana — the woorara, or arrow-poison, from 
whom the other tribes purchase it. They use it, also, as a means of de- 
fence ; — surrounding their dwellings with poisoned stakes. The Atorays, 
or Atorees, possess a very pacific temper. They are never known to 
commence aggressive wars, and submit quietly to any attacks upon them. 

The Ackoways, are a branch of the Charibees. Their language re- 
sembles that of this nation. They possess their brave and warlike cha- 
racter, and also their enterprising and trading spirit ; and through them 
the trade, between the different nations of Guyana, is now principally 
carried on. 

The state of the tribes, too, denotes that this part of Guyana was once 
much more populous ; as they are, generally, the mere remnants of na- 
tions. Other tribes have lived here, who are now entirely destroyed, or 
driven away to the Portuguese territories, by the preponderating sway of 
the Charibees. It is true, the two periodical inundations which form the 
lake, continue together for half a year ; but, judging from the state of the 
population at the east of it, on the same Cordillera, according to the rela- 
tions of several travellers whom I have cited, the nations who inhabited 
the inundated district, dwelt on the mountains. One of the Macoussie 
mountains, says the Essequibo journalist, is mount Itaka, which he ascend- 
ed, and half-way up, found a settlement of twelve houses. Dr. Hancock 
says this mountain is an isolated peak, steep and rugged, difficult to climb, 
and that on the summit are five houses, On the sides of the mountains. 



43 ELDORADO. 

though they appear sterile, cassada, corn, plaintains, &c, thrive astonish- 
ingly well. Mr. Waterton speaks of a steep and high hill, full of immense 
rocks, which he ascended ; the huts built on which, were not all in one 
place, but dispersed wherever they could find a spot level enough for a 
lodgment. And the population was not only on mountains around the lake. 
In it, says Alcedo, are many islands ; and in the mountains many nations 
who have given rise to the imaginary El Dorado, the cause of so many 
misfortunes and deaths. From the length which he givjes it of two hun- 
dred and forty-six miles ; and, taking a breadth for it of fifty miles, 
according to La Cruz ; if, as Alcedo supposes, it is rectangular, it would 
cover a space of twelve thousand square miles — as large a body of water 
as lake Ontario, or Erie, and which Raleigh compares to the Caspian sea. 
This space, surrounded and spread over with mountains, was capable of 
containing an extensive population. The whole of Guyana appears to 
have been much more thickly inhabited than at present. The borders of 
the Oronoke, exhibit the same appearance, as to the state of the tribes on 
it, as the region at the sources of the Essequibo. The population is scanty 
while there is the greatest number of nations, or remnants of tribes. The 
variety of idioms, observes Humboldt, that are spoken on the banks of the 
Meta, the Oronoke, the Cassiquiari, and the Rio Negro, is so prodigious, 
that a traveller, however great may be his talent for languages, can never 
flatter himself with learning enough to make himself understood along 
the navigable rivers, from Angustura to the Rio Negro. 

From the situation of this lake, communicating with so many rivers, 
flowing in different directions with the Oronoke, the Amazon and the At- 
lantic, a large assemblage of Indians would almost inevitably be collected 
there. A great number, in particular, would not fail to come to it by the 
Rio Branco, which unites with the Rio Negro, a large arm of the Amazon, 
on whose banks are a multitude of natives. D'Acugna, who makes the 
length of the Amazon about one thousand two hundred leagues — a less 
estimate than that of Orellana, which is one thousand eight hundred — 
observes, that its borders were so thickly populated when he passed down 
in 1639, that the habitations of the Indians along the whole were near 
each other ; and that not merely in one nation, but the settlements of two 
contiguous nations were at such little distance from each other, that sounds 
could be heard from the last habitation of one by several of the other. 
The tributaries of this river, both on the north and south side, were likewise 
thickly inhabited. It is very probable, also, that there was an emigration 
from the Oronoke to this region. Some of the tribes now in it, appear to 
have come from that river. The Atorays, or Atorees of the Essequibo (the 
name is written both ways) are probably the Atures of the Oronoke — a 
number of whom, Humboldt says, have been found east of the Esmeralda, 
which is directly west of lake Parima. The Atures belong to the great 
stock of Saliva nations, who are the most intelligent tribes on the Oronoke. 
The Atorees are an industrious, mild, and pacific nation, and appear to have 
a degree of mechanical skill above the other tribes. They are the sole 



REGION OF PARI MA. 49 

makers of the stone rasps, used by the other Indians for grating the cas- 
sava root. Their houses are made with rather more art than those of the 
others, being circular. In the neighborhood of Mahanerwa's place, the 
Essequibo journalist says there are four round houses, rilled with clay, 
entirely closed, except a space for an entrance, which were erected from 
some singular notion the makers imbibed. These, I was informed, were 
made by the Atorees. They are on an eminence, and make a singular 
appearance in that wilderness country. The Macoes, according to the 
Charibee chief, are one of the nations about lake Parima. A nation 
of the same name exists on the Oronoke, and like the Atures, belong 
to the Saliva stock. The Wapisanas, on the Rippununi, are perhaps 
the Guaypanabis of the Oronoke. The first syllable of each name is 
the same, according to a different pronunciation. Thus, the Guaranos, 
at the mouth of this river, are called Warrows ; the Guykeries, Wikiries. 
Furious contests formerly existed between the Guaypanabis and the Cha- 
ribees of the Oronoke, and the Wapisanas are pursued by those of the 
Essequibo with such a determined spirit, that they have taken up their 
abodes toward the tops of the highest mountains, and dare not appear in 
the level country. 

Humboldt says, that from Caycara, on the Oronoke, a little below the 
cataracts of the Atures, the Indians formerly had a road that led to Esse- 
quibo and Demerara. 

Raleigh says there were around the lake Cassipa (Parima) three mighty 
nations, the Cassipagotos, Awaragotos, and Eparagotos. Who they were, 
I have not been able to learn. The termination goto, belongs to the Cha- 
ribee language, as in the Tiberacottis and Arenacottis tribes now around the 
lake. Eparagotos and Tiberacottis seem to have some resemblance — a 
consonant is sometimes put, by the Indians, before words to improve the 
sound. 

This circumstance, too, of so many rivers rising near each other, 
and by short portages communicating together, would lead the borderers 
of the Atlantic coast and the Oronoke frequently to pass through Guyana 
to the Rio Negro and the Amazon, and those on the latter river to make 
the opposite journey, for the purpose of trafficking with the articles grow- 
ing or made in their respective regions ; and in the end would probably 
render the region of Parima, whence these rivers rise, a common rendez- 
vous, or market-ground, for the same purpose ; by which their mutual 
exchanges could be more conveniently carried on. Some indications of 
this exist at the present day. The Essequibo journalist, speaking of his 
visit to the Charibee chief, says : " The trade between the Charibees, 
Alorays, Macoussies, Wapisanas and Turamas, goes on the whole year, 
and this place is the great market — every day strangers are coming and 
going — visits from all quarters." 

But the tribes at a distance, had the additional motive to visit this 
region to obtain many articles, either found solely in it, or more readily 
obtained here than elsewhere, 
4 

\ 
\ 

\ 



50 EL DORADO. 

The forests of Guyana have always presented an interesting field to 
the naturalist. The great luxuriance of vegetation which they exhibit, 
caused by a prolific soil and tropical sun, producing an innumerable vari- 
ety of plants ; the many majestic and beautiful trees of singular forms, 
standing conspicuous in the landscape ; the great variety of birds of rich 
and splendid plumage which adorn them ; the multitude of rare and curi- 
ous quadrupeds with which the} 7- are thronged, with innumerable vari- 
eties of the insect race, are everywhere calculated to arrest his attention. 
But in the mountainous region of Parima, a field for his researches is 
presented, not exceeded by that of any other country, in the animals of 
all the orders which are peculiar to it, the many new varieties found here 
of' those already known, the rare vegetable productions, useful for food or 
other purposes, the many curious and valuable woods, the medicinal plants, 
and the gums, oils, &c, with which it abounds. 

Of the abundance, variety, and beauty of the natural productions, both 
in the animal and vegetable domain, in the interior of British Guyana, 
the following lively description has been given by Capt. J. E. Alexander, 
in his Trans- Atlantic Sketches, published in 1833 ; who, accompanied by 
Mr. Hillhouse, surveyor of Demerara, a gentleman of intelligence and 
well acquainted with that colony, ascended the Essequibo, and then pro- 
ceeded up the Mazarouni two hundred and thirty-four miles. The 
description relates to the scenery on that river : 

" At every turn of the river, says the author, we descried objects of great 
interest. The dense, and nearly impenetrable forest itself, occupied our 
chief attention. Magnificent trees, altogether new to me, were anchored 
to the ground by the bush-rope. Convolvuli and the flowers of parasitical 
plants of every variety, caused the woods to appear as if hung with gar- 
lands. Preeminent above the other sons of the forest, was the towering 
and majestic mora. Its trunk spread out into buttresses, and on its top 
could be seen the king of vultures, spreading out his immense wings to dry 
after the dews of night. 

" Rivalling the mora in height, and surpassing it in beauty, was the silk 
cotton-tree. A naturalist might study for days one of these grand ob- 
jects, produced by exuberant nature from the richest mould, with the 
combined advantages of a tropical sun and moist atmosphere, and still 
he will find something new, and much to wonder at. 

" Supporting many other plants, and a numerous colony of animated 
nature, on the topmost branches of the tree are seen the wild pine — while 
the vines, descending like shrouds to the earth, afford to the traveller a 
pleasant beverage ; for if skilfully cut with a knife, the water gushes 
out. . . . The opossum, and other small quadrupeds, ascending by the 
vines, drink from the deep cup of the pines, which contains nearly a 
quart of water, collected from the dews and rain. In the forks of the 
branches are seen the black clay nests of the wood-ant, with double gal- 
leries down the stem, by which the tiny colonists ascend and descend, 
without interrupting each other. Sometimes the marabouts, or wild bees, 



WONDERS OF NATURE. 51 

occupy the place of the ants, and are surrounded by the hanging nests 
of the black and yellow mocking-birds. 

" Here and there, singly or in groups, the royal palmetto reared its head 
one hundred feet in height, and the stem seven or eight feet in thickness. 
The straight gray pillar terminates in a green edible shaft, affording the 
mountain cabbage ; then the branches, fifteen feet in length, spread out 
horizontally, from which depended the close-set pinnated and pointed 
leaves, agitated by the slightest breath of air. 

" While we lay, in the noonday heat, shadowed underneath the thick 
wood, the very peculiar and romantic cry of the campanero, or bell-bird, 
would be heard at intervals. It is white, about the size of a pigeon, with 
a leathery excresence on its forehead ; and the sound which it produces 
in the lone woods, is like that of a convent bell tolling at a distance." 

Captain Alexander then gives an account of some remarkable quadru- 
peds of this region, as the tapir, or American elephant j the spotted 
jaguar ; the manati, or sea-cow ; and the cayman, or alligator ; but 
his animated description I am obliged to omit, not to extend the extract to 
too great a length. ' 

" The trees of the forest, matted together by bush- rope, here running up 
their stems, and then joining branch to branch, were at times alive on each 
side of the river, with the restless saccawabee, or small red monkey, 
with a white face. They travel from tree to tree with facility, by means 
of the wild vines ; and numerous families of these active little creatures, 
with their offspring on their backs, may be seen disporting themselves 
among the leaves, and feeding on the nuts, far removed from their ene- 
mies, the snakes below. 

" Then advancing up a creek, the wanderer may come to a lonely spot, 
rocks and trees casting broad shadows into the pools ; and he will there see the 
spotted wirrabocerra, or the red bajeer deer, reposing at noon, or rushing, 
with panting sides, to the water. The flesh of both these deer is delicious. 
" Rushing through entangled brush- wood, will be heard a score or two 
of picarree hogs. The ant, bear, tree-porcupine, the scaly armadilla, 
and the languid sloth, are' not unfrequently met with, in traversing these 
luxuriant and unbroken forests ; but above all, the red men desire to meet 
with the amphibious laaba, about the size of a pig a year old, and the 
body brown, with white spots, affording flesh rich and delicate. 

" When the sun sinks rapidly in the west, and disappears behind the 
trees, like a fiery target, gorgeous macaws, and screaming parrots fly 
in pairs over head, returning from their feeding grounds, to their favorite 
roosts. The dreaded vampire then leaves the shady nest, or hollow tree, 
where he had dosed during the day, and flits on ebon and leathery wings 
along the river's bank. These foul bats are sometimes three feet from 
wing to wing. , . | 

" During the night, the owls and goat-suckers lament with ominous cry, 
and at early dawn the hannaqua loudly repeats its own name, and the 
4* 



52 EL DORADO. 

woodpeckers commence their hammering on decayed trees, and the 
mighty-billed toucans yelp from the loftiest trees. Near the mouths of 
the rivers, the curry-curry, or scarlet curlew, stalks conspicuously among 
other aquatic birds, and the falcon, pelican, and spoonbill, are seen with 
flocks of wild duck and teel, &c. With active though invisible wing, the 
minute humming-birds are often observed ; the metallic lustre of their 
plumage glistening in the sunbeam. . . . Far removed from the hamlets 
of men, sits the cock of the rock, with red plumage so brilliant, that some 
will say it is impossible to look steadfastly on it. It is a crested bird, about 
the size of a pigeon, and of an elegant form ; but I must not stop to describe 
at greater length, the great variety of the feathered tribe that are met 
with in these wilds ; but merely mention the names of the scarlet and 
blue aras, the great trumpeter, and powese or peacock-pheasant, the 
brown maraddee, the spotted tiger-bird, the blue-bird and rice-bird, the 
green sparrow, and above all the kishee-kishee, the size of a lark, but 
decorated with splendid plumage, the various colors of which are beau- 
tifully arranged, so as to enchant the eye of every beholder. 

" While on the Essequibo, I heard of a recluse, who collected insects, 
and I went in a canoe to visit him. . . . Mynheer Faber, a thin gray- 
headed man, displayed before me a rich and valuable entomological 
collection, consisting of the most beautiful varieties of the butterflies and 
moths, of beetles in cases of shining armor, lantern and fire-flies of differ- 
ent species, the remarkable walking-leaves, gigantic bush-spider, the red- 
footed tarantula, centipedes, a foot long, and scorpions, whose bite occa- 
sions fevers and death in a few hours. 

" As a pupil of one of the most distinguished naturalists of the age, 
Prof. Jamieson, I might have been expected to enter more fully into the 
natural history of this region, but I am fearful of fatiguing many of those 
who honor these pages with their perusal. I therefore briefly state, that 
I know of no fairer field in the universe for a naturalist to distinguish 
himself in, than that of Guyana. There are vast mineral treasures yet 
to be discovered in the mountain ranges ; the most valuable gums, spices, 
and medicinal plants abound in these romantic woods, scented by the sweet 
liyawa ; and in a morning's walk under the matted trees, or by the side 
of the lonely creek, new species of insects inhabiting the land or water, are 
continually to be met with." 

This sketch brings to mind, a passage in the narrative of Sir Walter 
Raleigh. His mind, quickly and deeply sensihle to the beautiful and pic- 
turesque in nature, was so struck with the aspect of Guyana, that he 
breaks forth into the following enthusiastic terms respecting it : "I never 
gaw a more beautiful country, nor more lively prospects ; hills so raised 
here and there over the valleys, the river winding into divers branches, 
the plains adjoining without bush or stubble, all fair green grass ; the 
ground of hard sand, easy to march on, either for horse or foot ; the deer 
crossing in every path, and the birds toward the evening singing in every 
tree ; with a thousand several tunes, cranes and herons of white, crimson, 



COTTON. 53 

and carnation, perching on the river's side, the air fresh with a gentle 
easterly wind." 

This passage has, no doubt, been viewed by superficial readers, or the 
prejudiced enemies of Raleigh, as a mere political rhapsody, and contrib- 
uted, with the glowing terms in which, in other places he speaks of this 
country, to throw discredit upon his entire narrative. But, although it may 
be admitted that his enthusiasm led him to paint the scenery of Guyana 
with the pencil of a poet, the extract I have given from the account of a 
recent visitor to this region, is sufficient to acquit him of the charge of 
having framed the ground-work from his imagination, and even to excuse 
the warmth of his language. 

I will not indulge a conjecture, which of all the various natural pro- 
ductions of the region in which the White Sea or lake Parima is situated, 
or of the articles fabricated by the tribes who inhabited it, might have 
attracted to it visitors from other nations ; but will confine myself to those 
which are in no manner problematical. 

Wild cotton may be enumerated among them. 

Dr. Hancock, in his pamphlet entitled ' Observations,' &c, remarks : 
il The variety of valuable and interesting cottons in the interior of Guyana 
is very numerous." This is an article in great demand among the Indians, 
especially the Charibees, who manufacture it into cloth, of which they 
make their hamacks — and there are indications that they formerly made 
vestments of the same material. 

The variety of birds of beautiful plumage, which abound in that region, 
could not fail, also, to attract to it visitors from other parts, to procure ma- 
terials for the gay and splendid plumery with which all the Indians of 
Guyana are accustomed to array themselves. When we speak in Europe, 
observes Humboldt, of a native of Guyana, we figure to ourselves a man, 
whose head and waist are decorated with fine feathers of the macaw, the 
toucan, the lanager, and the humming-bird. The Charibees, and per- 
haps other nations, were besides, fond of having beautiful specimens of 
the feathered race among them, which they domesticated. Pinzon, in his 
voyage to South America, soon after Columbus, was presented, on the coast 
of Paria, as Martyr relates, "with a great multitude of peacocks, dead 
and alive, as well for his own use as to carry to Spain ; also, with par- 
rots of the greatest number, of every color." 

At Guadaloupe, Columbus found, around the houses of the Charibees, 
many household fowls, especially a splendid species of parrot, called 
guacamayo, or the macaw. The Essequibo journalist states, that on his 
visit to the chief Mahanerwa, a captain of the Charibees came there from 
the river Corentine, to trade for "spun cotton and rare birds." 

The valuable medicinal plants, with the virtues of which the Indians 
are acquainted — the odoriferous shrubs, the balsams and oils found in the 
interior parts of Guyana — the various beautiful woods growing there, of 
one of which, the letterwood — of extraordinary solidity, and variegated 
with marks — their bows and war-clubs are made, were probably formerly, 
as they are now, sought for in this region. 



54 EL DORADO. 

The fatal woorara, or arrow-poison, used by all the Indians of Guyana, 
Is made by the Macoussies alone, one of the tribes in the mountainous 
region of Parima. The sarbacan, or blow-pipe, a straight and hollow 
reed, nine or ten feet long, through which a small arrow, about eight 
inches in length, poisoned at one end, is impelled by the breath ; is also 
obtained from them, who are the sole makers of it, and are the only na- 
tion who employ it in war. Other Indians obtain it, to use in killing birds 
or other small animals. 

Honey, we may be certain, was found abundantly among the tribes in 
the mountains of Parima, and was an article of traffic among them. The 
variety of the species of bees there, and the different kinds of honey made 
by the Indians, is a matter of astonishment. 

Although to researches in natural history, my attention was not directed 
while in Guyana, I was so struck with the beauty of a collection of pre- 
served specimens of this valuable insect, made by a naturalist on the 
Essequibo, that I purchased it of him, consisting of forty-two varieties ; 
and which, on my return to New- York, I presented to the Lyceum of 
Natural History of that city. I likewise obtained the Indian (arrowack) 
names for twenty-nine of these species, which facts were stated in a 
short paper I communicated to Professor Silliman's American Journal of 
Science. 

A great attraction to the White Sea of Parima, also, was no doubt the 
salt found there. This article was also in demand among the Indians; 
an evidence of which is seen in a fact stated by Martyr, in describing 
the visit of Pinzon to the coast of Paria — that the Indians at some distance 
from it, were accustomed to come to it to obtain salt ; which the Parians 
procured by allowing the water of the sea, when it rose and inundated a 
plain, to evaporate, and the salt was made into small cakes, with which 
they trafficked. 

From a fact stated by D'Acugna, it seems not improbable the Indians 
on the Amazon supplied themselves with this article from the lake Parima. 
The Tupinambas, says this early writer, are a very ingenious and intel- 
ligent people, and inhabit an island in this river, sixty leagues in length, 
which commences twenty-eight leagues below the river Cayari, nearly 
directly south of this lake. They informed him that, on the north side 
of the river, were seven provinces adjoining one another, very populous, 
but the inhabitants were of little courage — that there was another nation 
beyond them whose confines extended to these, with whom they had been 
long at peace, and had a regular trade with the different commodities with 
which each country abounded, and that the principal thing they had from 
them was salt, which came frsm a place not far distant from them. 
D'Acugna mentions this as a most interesting fact — not having met with 
this article in its natural state, in the course of his voyage — and even 
speaks of the importance this salt region would be to the inhabitants of 
the provinces of Peru.* 

* Discovery of the Amazon by Ch. D'Acugna, London, 1458. 



THE LAKE FESTIVAL.' 55 

To these remarks, I add the following facts : that at the present day the 
Indians, in the interior of Guyana, are in the practice of bringing down 
the rivers Essequibo and Demerara, many curious and rare articles, the 
productions of the forests or their own fabrics, which always attract the 
attention of European visitors, who commonly purchase some of these 
"curiosities" to take with them on their return. Instead of giving a de- 
tail of them, I extract from Dr. Bancroft's History of Guyana, in 1764, 
an account of those which the Charibees and Ackoways were then in the 
practice of bringing down from the interior to traffick with the Europeans, 
viz : canoes, hamacks, beeswax, balsam capivi — a balsam called arreco- 
cerra — the roots of hiaree for fishing — oil of caraiba, which is collected 
in large gourds, resembling the palm-oil of Guinea — different kinds of 
curious woods ; letterwood ; ducalla-bolla ; ebony ; vanilla ; arnotta ; 
cassia festuta ; canulla alba ; wild nutmeg ; wild cinnamon • monkeys ; 
parrots; parroquets, &c. This account, compared with one given by 
Keymis, two hundred years before, while it proves how little the customs 
of the Indians have changed during that time ; furnishes, also, another 
instance of the accuracy of his statements. " From the mouth of the Co- 
rentine," he observes, "to the head, is twenty days, where the Guyanians 
dwell. Honey, cotton, silk, balsam, and brasil beds (hamacks,) may be 
had here in great plenty ; and all along the coast eastward, also, divers 
sorts of drugs, gums, and roots." The abundance of these articles along 
the coast, shows that the intercourse with the interior by the different 
rivers emptying into the Atlantic was great — for the hamacks were ob- 
tained only from the Charibees, who are in the interior, and some of the 
others were no produced on the low alluvial lands of the coast. 

Keymis says, he was told there was an infinite number of canoes in the 
lake. This would be the case if there was a large population there, for 
during the successive periods of inundation, each of three months or more, 
the inhabitants on the mountains would otherwise have no means of com- 
munication with each other ; and if this place was much resorted to, the 
visitors would come to it in canoes. The great quantity of them in the 
lake is also expressly stated by the Mariwin Inquirer. The ancient 
Indians, from the head of the Surinam, informed him, "that once in every 
third year, all the Caciques or lords and captains, some seven days' jour- 
ney from Monooan, do come to a great drinking, which continues for the 
space of ten days together, in which time they go sometimes fishing, fowl- 
ing and hunting. Their fishing is in the salt lake, where is abundance 
of canoes, and those very great. They have many fish-pools of standing 
water, wherein they have abundance of fish." These fish-pools are 
agreeable to Avhat was related to me by the Charibee chief, that after the 
lake had discharged itself there remained in it a pool, which was full of 
fish, called cassamaima; and if this was resorted to there would proba- 
bly be a number of such fish-pools, which the Indians would have no diffi- 
culty in making ; as the Macoussies, who now live near it, are in the 
practice of going there in the dry season to get water, by " digging a pit 
in it," as one of my informants stated. 



56 ELDORADO. 

Limiting myself to a simple and strict detail of facts, I will not allow 
myself to imagine what consequences, besides those of mutual convenience 
for traffick, might have followed the assembling of Indians from various 
surrounding tribes, at this gathering place ; what alliances might have 
been formed, what schemes of war projected, and how far the state of the 
population throughout Guyana might have been influenced by it. Nor 
will I attempt to sketch the scene which the White Sea would, on these 
occasions present, with mountains around it and dispersed over it, covered 
with granitic rocks, the micaceous particles of which glistened in the sun ; 
or, as the Charibees said, "shone as glass,'"' the cabins of the inhabitants 
studding their sides to their very summit ; the various nations of every 
form and different costumes, but all gayly and fantastically arrayed — nor 
their occupations during these assemblings, either for traffick or amuse- 
ment; "the fishing in the salt lake;" the parties traversing the rocky and 
woody mountains in quest of quadrupeds or birds, or in collecting the 
natural productions of the country; the meetings for bargaining or ex- 
changing the articles found on the spot or brought from other parts, or 
their feasts and entertainments, always scenes of excitement and noisy 
revelry. 

I will only remark, that so large a body of water in the interior of 
Guyana, having the singular appearance of white — and like the sea, salt 
or saltish — the large collection of Indians which was probably around it, 
and the occasional gatherings there of those of surrounding regions, with 
the communications afforded by the different rivers, could not fail to give 
general celebrity to this place ; so that it appears to have been known 
along the whole coast of Guyana, at every river where voyagers stopped, 
although there was no magnificent city on the borders of the White Sea, 
nor its mountains abounded with the precious metals. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EXAMINATION OF THE RELATION OF JUAN MARTINEZ, A SPANIARD, WHO PRO- 
FESSED TO HAVE SEEN THE CITY WHETHER GOLD ARTICLES WERE IN 

EARLY TIMES POSSESSED BY THE INDIANS IN THE INTERIOR OF GUYANA, 

AND WHENCE OBTAINED REMARKS ON THE RELATION OF A CHARIBEE 

CHIEF ON THE ORONOKE, OF AN INVASION OF IT BY PERUVIANS. 

That " a rich and magnificent city" existed on the lake, Sir Walter 
Raleigh, however, states that he was positively informed. " I have been 
assured/' he observes, "by such of the Spaniards as have seen Manoa, 
the imperial city of Guyana, that, for its greatness, the riches, and for the 
excellent seat, it-far excelleth any in the world, at least so much of it as 
is known to the Spaniards, and it is situated upon a sea of salt water." 

The information on which he founds this statement was, as has been 
related, obtained from the Spaniards at Trinidad, especially from Admi- 
ral Don Berreo, the Governor of that island, who had, previously to him, 
made an expedition from New Grenada down the Oronoke in pursuit of 
El Dorado, which principally consisted of the relation of a certain Juan 
Martinez, who professed to have travelled to this city and seen it. Of 
this information, however, Raleigh gives no account, except of the rela- 
tion of Martinez, on which he appears mainly to rely for his belief of the 
existence of this long-sought-for city in the heart of Guyana. An exami- 
nation of it will therefore be made, to ascertain whether it justified the 
opinion which Berreo formed from it, and communicated to him. 

The circumstances which led Martinez to discover, as he reported, this 
new El Dorado, are thus stated by Sir Walter Raleigh : 

He belonged to the company of Diego Ordaz, who was one of those who 
sought El Dorado by ascending the Oronoke. He proceeded as far as the 
residence of the Charibee chief, with whom Raleigh made an alliance, 
of which he saw evidence in a large anchor of his ship lying at his port ; 
and while there, his whole stock of powder having been set on fire, Marti- 
nez, who had the chief chargp of it, was condemned to be executed. But 
the soldiers favored him, and tried every means to save his life, but could 
light on no other mode than placing him in a canoe and suffering it to float 
clown the river. It was carried down some distance, when it was taken 
up by some Indians, who, having never before seen a white person, car- 
ried him into the country to be wondered at, and went from town to town 
until they came to the great city of Manoa. The Emperor, after he had 
beheld him, caused him to be lodged in his palace and well entertained, 
but restrained him from travelling about the country. He was brought 
thither the whole way blindfolded. He lived there seven months, after 



58 EL DORADO. 

which he obtained permission of the Emperor to depart, who sent with 
him a number of Indians to conduct him to the Oronoke, with as much 
gold as they could carry. But when he arrived near the river's side, the 
borderers robbed him and the Indians of all the treasure they had with 
them, save only two large gourds, which were filled with beads of gold 
curiously wrought. He then went down the Oronoke to Trinidad, and 
from thence came to the Island of Margueretta, and afterward to Porto 
Rico, where he died ; and in his last illness gave this relation, which Ber- 
reo informed Raleigh was still to be seen in the chancery of that island, 
and of which he had a copy. 

u It was this individual, Martinez," says Raleigh, " who firsf christened 
the city of Manoa El Dorado, which he did on the following account : 

"The Guyanians are remarkably addicted to drinking, exceeding all 
other people ; and at their festivals, when the Emperor carouseth with his 
captains and tributaries, those who pledge or acknowledge him have their 
bodies covered over with a kind of white balsam, called Curcai, and cer- 
tain servants of his blow gold dust through hollow canes upon them, until 
they are all shining from head to foot ; and thus adorned, they sit drink- 
ing by twenties and hundreds, and continue so sometimes six or seven 
days together. And from witnessing this, and for the abundance of gold 
which he saw in the city — the images of gold in the temples, the plates, 
armors, and shields of gold which they used in their wars — he called it 
El Dorado." 

Such is the foundation on which the magnificent city in the interior of 
Guyana has been erected. 

On an attentive examination, however, of this relation, it will be found 
entirely insufficient to support the splendid fabric created by Barreo and 
the Spaniards, and into the belief of which Raleigh was led. 

Martinez gives no relation of such things as are embraced in the idea 
of a civilized city, still less a magnificent one — well-built edifices, streets 
and squares. The abundance of gold, and the various gold articles which 
he describes to be in it, on which I shall presently remark, may all have 
been there, although it consisted only of a large collection of Indians, 
living in habitations very similar to those now seen in Guyana ; but who, 
like the Omaguas on the river Amazon, among whom such articles abound- 
ed, may have been somewhat more improved than the surrounding nations. 
But the relater calls this place El Dorado. It was Martinez, says Raleigh, 
who first gave to the city of Manoa this name. But it clearly appears, 
that he does not apply it from its possessing the accompaniments " of a 
rich and magnificent city," but, as he expressly states — because the Empe- 
ror and the principal men, had their bodies covered over with gold dust ; 
the abundance of gold in the city, the images of gold in the temples, the 
armors, plates, and shields of gold, &c. 

The term El Dorado, Gamilla, in his History of the Oronoke, states — 
as I have before observed — was first used in New Grenada and Peru, from a 
similar custom related to exist in some Indian nation ; and the same opinion 
is expressed by Humboldt. 



MARTINEZ AND BERREO T 59 

Reports being spread among the inhabitants of those provinces, of a 
King, or Priest, whose body every morning was anointed and then covered 
with gold dust, and, at the same time, that the country which he governed 
abounded in gold — the name of El Dorado, signifying in the Spanish lan- 
guage, "the gilded," or, the gilded King, was applied by them to the whole 
region ; and when their minds were inflamed by these reports, by the 
mere force of imagination, a city was created, in which this gilded king 
resided, with his palace, and other stately edifices sumptuously decorated 
with gold. 

Martinez, in his relation, applies the term El Dorado, as has been seen, 
strictly as it was at first used ; but Berreo, the Governor of Trinidad, 
prepossessed with the idea of a rich and magnificent city, which he had 
imbibed in New Grenada, gave this coloring to the relation, and convey- 
ed the same impression of it to the mind of Raleigh. 

That this is a correct view, and that the place called Manoa, was even 
then only a collection of rude Indian habitations, is confirmed by a co- 
temporary witness. The Mariwin Inquirer, thirteen years only after the 
first voyage of Raleigh, gives the following relation on the subject. The 
ancient Indian, from the head of the Surinam, who gave him an account 
of the " fair and rich city of Monooan," added, " ten days within the land, 
every child can tell of the riches of Monooan." And then he gives the 
following description of this " fair and rich" city : " Their houses are 
made with many lofts and partitions in them, but not boarded, only with 
bars of wood, only, the lower floor is spread very smooth, and with fires 
hardened, as they do their pots :" merely, simple Indian cabins, only 
larger than ordinary. The cabins of the inhabitants east of this place, 
at the sources of the Essequibo, on the same Cordillera, at the present day, 
according to the relations I have given, are of large size. One of them, 
on mount Itaka, one of the Macoussie mountains, is described as forty- 
two feet square, by thirty-six feet high. 

But, whatever were the circumstances which led Sir Walter Raleigh 
into the belief of the existence of a rich and splendid city in the interior 
of Guyana, it is manifest, that it was not a fable invented by him, as 
his enemies charged against him — nor, that he listened with easy creduli- 
ty to the loose tales of the Indians — nor, even, that he was the first to 
frame this airy vision from the relation of Martinez ; for the views he 
formed on the subject were received from Berreo, who first created the 
splendid fabric; and, although it may be thought that he embraced 
them without sufficient examination, yet it will be seen, hereafter, that 
some extraordinary relations were subsequently made to him, by the 
Charibee chief on the Oronoke, calculated to give countenance to the ideas 
of the Spanish Governor. 

In regard to the fact stated by Martinez, which led him to apply the 
name of El Dorado to the " city of Manoa," that the Emperor, with his 
captains and tributaries at their festivals, have their bodies covered over 
with a white balsam, on which gold dust is blown, until they are all 



60 ' ELDORADO. 

shining from head to foot, &c, it will not be difficult to give entire credit 
to it, although the city should be no more than the collection of Indian 
cabins described by the Mariwin Inquirer. This journalist also states, 
as has been related — " that once in every third year, all the Caciques, or 
lords and captains, once in every third year, come seven days' journey, 
from Monooan, to a great drinking, which continues for the space of ten 
days together," &c. Feasts and entertainments are of very frequent 
occurrence among the Indians of Guyana, and are always scenes of ex- 
cessive drinking. This is the case, particularly, with the Charibees. 
There is not an assembly held among them, either for business or pleas- 
ure, which is not attended with a festival. They are sometimes held by 
the inhabitants of a village among themselves. At others, one village 
invites neighboring ones, with whom they are on amicable terms. On 
these occasions, they array themselves in the gayest possible manner. 
An early writer, thus describes the appearance of some of them at these 
times. Besides being decorated with a profusion of gold and feathered 
ornaments, they painted their whole body with squares or other figures, 
of various colors, which were symmetrically arranged, and on these 
squares they attached the down of birds of different hues ; so that they 
appeared, at some distance, as if clothed in a suit of figured satin. It 
would not, therefore, be surprising, if some of the Indians, on these occa- 
sions, decorated themselves with glistening metallic ores. Humboldt, in 
fact, states, that the Guaynaves of the Rio Caura, (a river which is sup- 
posed to rise out of lake Parima,) are accustomed to stain themselves 
with arnotto, and to make broad transverse stripes on the body, on which 
they stick spangles of silvery mica. Seen at a distance, they appear to 
be dressed in laced clothes.* Rude nations in other regions, ornament 
themselves in the same showy manner. Mears, in his account of the in- 
habitants of Nootka Sound, on the N. W. coast of America, says — " Their 
faces are generally ornamented with a sort of red ochre. On visits of 
ceremony, every part of the body is daubed with it. When they go to 
war, black is the prevalent color, laid out in streaks on a black ground. 
We have sometimes seen them painted entirely white, at other times of a 
bright red color, over ichich they strewed a shining sand.] But particularly 
applicable to the subject, is a relation of Sir Robert Duddley, who made 
a voyage to the island of Trinidad, the year of Raleigh's expedition. 
He states, that a party whom he sent to examine the Oronoke, on their 
return informed him, among other things, that an Indian chief, on that 
river, gave them some plates of gold, and told them " of another rich na- 
tion, that sprinkled their todies with gold, and seemed to he gilt."% 

This testimony, so fully corroborative of Raleigh's statement, is unim- 
peachable ; as, not only was the writer unconnected with him, but arri- 
ved at Trinidad the first of February, 1595 ; which was before Raleigh 
left England — who sailed from it, the sixth of that month. And how little 

* Humboldt's Pers. Nar. ch. xxiv. t Mears's voy. to the N. W. coast of America. 

t Hackluyt's coll. of voy., 2nd vol.. p. 57, quarto edit. 



MARTYN'S DESCRIPTION.' Q\ 

he was under the influence of Raleigh, his journal shows : " In the 
time of my boat's absence, there came to me a pinnace of Plymouth, 
of which Captain Popham was chief — and if I had not lost my pinnaces, 
wherein I might have carried victuals, and some men, we had discovered 
further, the secrets of those places. Also, this captain and I stayed 
some six or eight days longer for Sir Walter, (who, as I surmised, had 
some purpose for this discovery,) to the end, that by our intelligence, and 
his boats, we might have done some good ; but, it seems, he came not in 
six or eight weeks after." 

A further proof of the existence of this custom among some of the 
nations of Guyana, is seen in certain interesting papers published at the 
end of this volume, (Appendix No. II.) and which furnish, also, strong 
evidence that an opinion was prevalent among the Spaniards, at that 
period, of the existence of El Dorado in the interior of Guyana, and of 
the abundance of gold to be found in that country. 

The other circumstances related by Martinez, which contributed to in- 
duce him to apply the name El Dorado, to the city of Manoa, "the 
abundance of gold in the city — the images in the temples — the plates, 
armors and shields of gold, which they used in their wars," we can have 
no difficulty in believing, were seen by him in the city of Manoa. 

Ornaments of gold, there is reason to believe, were in early times worn 
by the Guyanians. Marty n, describing some of the Indians on the coast 
of Paria, seen by Columbus, says : " There came innumerable people in 
canoes to the ships, the greater part having chains about their necks, 
garlands on their heads, and bracelets on their arms of gold and of pearls ; 
and that so commonly, that our women, at plays and triumphs, have not 
greater plenty of stones, of glass and crystal in their garlands, crowns, 
girdles, and such other 'tirements ; ' and that when some of the Spaniards 
went ashore, of the Indians they saw, there were few or none that had 
not a collar, chain, or a bracelet of gold and pearls, and many had all."* 
" The Indians of Cumana," says the same writer, " also wore crowns of 
gold. All who could obtain them, were delighted with them." These 
regions, it is true, are not a part of Guyana, but contiguous to it ; yet as 
the Indians referred to — as I have shown in my history of the Charibees — 
belonged to this nation, who are spread over Guyana, there can be no 
doubt that gold ornaments were also common in this region. The pearls 
were obtained only on the coast. One of the gold ornaments of the 
Charibees was a plate in the form of a crescent, called by them caracolli, 
worn at the ears, and a large one hanging at the breast, suspended from 
the neck. One was sometimes worn also at the nose, and another at the 
under lip. 

Raleigh speaks, also, of the abundance of gold ornaments in Guyana, 
in another part of his narrative, in connection with the subject of El 
Dorado. " The Indians of Trinidad," he observes, " and the cannibals, 
(Charibees,) of Dominica, also the Indians of Paria, and all those other 

■ ■ * Decade, I, 



62 EL DORADO. 

Indians inhabiting near about the mountains that run from Paria, through the 
province of Venezuela and in Moraca, have plates of gold from Guyana, 
and on the Amazon." Thevet writes, "that the people wear croissants 
(crescents,) of gold; 'for in that form the Guyanians commonly make 
them,"* and that the Governor of Trinidad had, by his trade with the 
Indians, and his ransom of divers of them, obtained great store of gold 
plates, and eagles of gold, and images of men, divers birds, fishes, and 
other ornaments curiously wrought in gold."f These statements, al- 
though confirming his relations of Manoa, cannot be doubted, as one part 
of it is derived from Thevet, an historian of undoubted credit; and in 
another, he refers to a prominent official character, in the vicinity of that 
country. 

And Lawrence Keymis, his successor and associate, gives a similar 
account, and points directly to the region of Parima, as the place from 
which these gold ornaments came. " From the mouth of the Corentine 
to the head, is ten days, where the Guyanians dwell. . . . Some images 
of gold, spleen stones, and others may be gotten on this coast. They get 
their moons (crescents,) and other pieces of gold by exchange, taking for 
one of their greater canoes, one piece or image of gold with three heads, 
and after that rate for lesser canoes. :{: The head of the Corentine is very 
near that of the Essequibo." 

Robert Harcourt, in the account of his voyage to the Oyapoke, in 
1608, observes : "As I daily conversed among the Indians, it chanced 
that one of them presented me with a half-moon of metal, which held 
somewhat more than one-third gold, and the rest copper ; another also 
gave me a little image of the same metal, and of another I bought a spread 
eagle, which he obtained in Guyana, {he same which he said did abound 
with images of gold, by them called carrecoury."§ 

And the Mariwin Inquirer, his associate, says : " The ancient Indian 
showed me a piece of metal, fashioned like an eagle, and I guess it 
was about the weight of eight or nine ounces, Troy weight. It seemed 
to be gold ; or at least two parts gold, and one copper. I demanded, 
where he had that eagle ; and his answer was, that he had it of his 
uncle who dwelt among the Weearapoyns, in the country called Sher- 
rumirremary, near the Cassipagotos country, where is a great store of 
these images. Further, he said, that at the head of Selinama (Surinam) 
and Mariwini, there were great store of the half-moons, which he called 
by the name of unnaton." The Cassipagotos were, according to Ra- 
leigh, one of the nations about lake Cassipa or Parima. 

" The ancient Indian affirmeth, that within the city, at the entrance of 
their houses, they hung caracoroure on the posts, which I take to be ima- 
ges of gold." These were the caracollis or crescents of the Charibees. 

From these passages it appears, that the images of gold seen by Marti- 
nez, at Manoa, were probably only the gold ornaments worn by the Guy- 

* Cayley, vol. 1. p. 193. t Cayley, vol. 1. p. 207. . 

t Cayley, vol. 2, p, 386. § Purchas, Book 6. chap. XVI. 



MOUNT ORADDOO. 63 

anians. The caracollis were called images, because they were idola- 
trous emblems of the moon. Being suspended at the door-posts of the 
houses, is agreeable to the custom of ancient idolaters, who placed their 
idols at the entrance to their houses. And this circumstance suggests an 
important idea. These gold plates, thus hung up before the houses in 
Manoa, have, perhaps, originated the embellishment usually introduced 
in the descriptions of El Dorado — before it was entirely discarded, as ima- 
ginary and fabulous — that the roofs of its houses were covered with " tiles, 
of gold." The equivocal meaning of the term, gold plates, may have 
occasioned all the illusion. 

The temples in which, Martinez relates, were images of gold, may be 
any houses, appropriated to religious purposes and do not necessarily 
denote remarkable structures. The words, " temples" and " Emperor," 
are used by Raleigh, from ideas he had previously formed, of the " mag- 
nificence of the city of Manoa." 

But whence were obtained the gold ornaments, and other articles, 
found, as related by Martinez, at this place ? Does native gold exist in 
the mountains of Parima ? and did the inhabitants, themselves, manufac- 
ture it ? 

In regard to the first question, the following are all the facts and opin, 
ions I have been able to collect : 

The Mariwin Inquirer gives the following statement, confirmatory of 
the relations of Raleigh: "The ancient Indian, from whom his other 
accounts of this region were received, told him of a mountain at the head 
of D'Essekebe, which is called Oraddoo, where is a great rock of white 
spar, which hath streams of gold in it, about the breadth of a goosequill ; 
and this he affirmeth very earnestly. Also, he spoke of a plain seven or 
eight days' journey from the mountain, where is a great store of gold, in 
grains as big as the top of a man's finger ; and after the floods are fallen, 
they find them ; which place is called Mumpara. Further, he spoke of 
a valley, not far distant from thence, which is called Wancoobanona, 
which hath the like. And he said, they gather them the space of two 
months, together ; which are presently after the great rains which wash 
away the sand and gravel from the grass, and then they may perceive the 
gold glistening in the ground. And of this they are very charie. And 
the captains and priests, or pecays, do charge the Indians very strictly, 
yea, with punishment of the whip, that they be secret.";: The mountain 
which is mentioned, called the Oraddoo, near the Essequibo, is probably 
mount Maho, south of lake Amucu ; which Humboldt says, is at this day 
called Ucucuamo, which signifies mountain of gold. 

A recent visitor to the vicinity of this region, Dr. Hancock, ia a com- 
munication to Mr. Martin, before mentioned, makes the following, among 
other remarks, in regard to the geological character of this region : 

" The principal component parts of the interior mountains are granite, 

-orphyry, and their various modifications — all denoting a primitive forma- 

m ; while the exterior ranges, toward the coast, of a minor elevation, 



64 EL DORADO. 

are chiefly composed of indurated clays, with sand and gravel-stones-— 
indicating a secondary order of formation. Veins of quartz are very 
common in traversing the great mass of granite, and most perspicuous 
along the channel of the river, in the dry season. Vast quantities of iron 

are met with in the mountains Some indurated clays, of great 

hardness, have been found mixed with sand, micas, calcareous earth, and 
oxyde of iron, amorphous, and full of particles of a metallic brilliancy. 
Substances of a metallic nature, having the appearance of ore, are also 
very abundantly met with in the mountains, but still more plentiful 
among the falls or rapids of the river. Rock crystal is also found upon 
several mountains of Demerara, growing, it may be said, out of beds of 

quartz Red agate, is found on the Rio Meu, (Maho,) opposite, 

and not far from, the crystal mountain." 

On the subject of the existence of gold in this region, a gentleman, 
whom I have before mentioned, who held an official station in Demerara, 
in 1765, gave me in writing, in 1820, the following statement : That he 
lias seen gold-dust brought by the Indians from the head of the Esse- 
quibo, which was given to the Director General of the colony on that 
river, who sent it to Holland, where ear-rings were made of it, which 
were sent over to him. That the West India Company of Holland, 
employed a company of miners on the Essequibo in 1735, who com- 
menced the working of a mine, for gold, on that river ; but disliking its 
nearness to the seat of government, removed to another on the Cayouni. 
After making some progress in the work there, it was suspended in con- 
sequence of the mortality among the miners. The leader of the corps 
was Nicholas Hortsman, who, from a disagreement with the Govern- 
ment, fled from the colony, by ascending the Essequibo, and crossing over 
the country to the Brazils. (This was the individual mentioned by Hum- 
boldt, and of whose journal he had a perusal.) The working of the mine 
was not resumed, from the fatality of the occupation to Europeans, and 
the opinion of the Dutch Government, that it was more beneficial to the 
colony to attend to agricultural pursuits, than mining operations. 

On the same subject, Humboldt makes the following remarks : " Amid 
the mountains of Encaramada, (which are on the Oronoke — part of the 
Cordillera of Parima,) we cannot help inquiring whence the gold was 
obtained, which Juan Martinez and Raleigh profess to have seen in the 
hands of the Indians. From what I have observed in that part of Ame- 
rica, I am led to think that gold, like tin, is sometimes disseminated, in 
an almost imperceptible manner, in the mass itself, of granitic rocks, with- 
out being able to admit that there is a ramification and intertwining of 
small veins. Not long ago, the Indians of Encaramada found, in the 
Quebrada del Tigre, (ravine of the Tiger,) a piece of gold two lines in 
diameter, and appeared to have been washed along by the waters.* 

" We are not justified in denying the existence of any auriferous land 
in that extent of country, which stretches between the Oronoke and Ama- 

* Humboldt's Peis, Nar., vol. i. p. 470. 



THE E PURE ME I. (55 

zon. . . . What I saw of it between two and eight degrees of latitude 
and sixty-six and' seventy-one of longitude, is entirely composed of gra- 
nite and of gneiss, passing into micaceous and calcaceous slate. These 
rocks appear naked, in the lofty mountains of Parima, as well as in the 
plains of the Atabapo and the Cassiquiari. The granite prevails there; 
over other rocks ; and though, in both continents, the granite of ancient 
formation is pretty generally destitute of gold, we cannot thence conclude 
that the granite of Parima contains no stratum of auriferous quartz. On 
the east of the Cassiquiari, toward the sources of the Oronoke, we saw the 
number of these strata and these veins increase. The granite of those 
countries appears to belong to a more recent formation, perhaps posterior 
to the gneiss Now, the least ancient granite, are the least desti- 
tute of metals." 

'•' We must not be surprised, if, since the Europeans settled themselves, 
in these wild spots, we hear less of the plates of gold, gold dust, and. 
amulets of gold, which could heretofore be obtained from the Charibees 
and other wandering nations by barter.*" 

From these facts, the existence of native gold in the region of Parima, 
seems not admissible of doubt, though to what extent remains very uncer- 
tain. But admitting this to be a fact, were the ornaments worn by the 
Indians inhabiting it, made by themselves or brought from other parts ?' 
Raleigh reports a relation of the Charibee chief, on the Oronoke, with 
whom he made an alliance, in favor of the former view. This chief 
informed him " that the plates and images of gold worn by the Guayan- 
ians, were made by the Epuremei ; and that the gold of which they were 
made, was not severed . from the stone ; but that on the lake Manoa, and' 
in a multitude of rivers, they gathered it in grains of perfect gold, as big 
as small stones ; and that they put to it a part of copper, otherwise they 
could not work it ; and that they used a great earthen pot, with holes. 
And when they had mingled the gold and copper together, they fastened 
canes to the holes ; and so, with the breath of men they increased the 
fire till the metal ran, and so made those plates and images. "f 

This minute description, none but the most prejudiced enemy of Raleigh, 
can suppose was fabricated by him. The manner in which the Epure- 
mei gathered the gold, is agreeable to the relation lately given from the. 
Mariwin Inquirer. And he likewise states, that a piece of metal was 
shown him, which was a composition of golJ and copper ; and Robert 
Harcourt the same. 

Independent of the testimony of Raleigh, it cannot be absolutely denied 
that some of the ornaments and other articles of gold, found at that period 
among the Indians of Guyana, were made by themselves. Gumilla, the 
historian of the Oronoke, a century since states, that the Charibees on 
its borders continued to wear plates of gold, manufactured by themselves. 
And Humboldt says, that at present, the Indians on that river ornament 

* Humboldt's Pers. Nar., ch. xxiii. t Cayley, vol. 1. p. 258. 

5 



66 ELDORADO. 

themselves with pieces of silver or gold, which they work themselves in 
their own manner.* 

It is possible, however, that the greater part of these gold articles were 
brought from the river Amazon. Some 01 the tribes on that river had 
arrived at a higher state of improvement than existed generally in Guy- 
ana ; for which there was a sufficient cause : — the communication afforded 
by its various tributaries which descend from the eastern side of the Andes, 
with the provinces of Peru, and New-Grenada. " The Incas," observes 
Humboldt, " had extended their arms and arts as far as the river Yupura, 
or Caqueta, which is but a short distance west of the Rio Negro." West 
of the Yupura, and near it, was the province of Aguas, or Om-aguas, 
commencing three hundred and seventy leagues below the Napo, and 
extending along the river, and the islands in it, two hundred leagues. 
The river Potamayo, on the north side — the next considerable river to 
Yupura — falls into the Amazon, opposite this territory. This nation has 
been already spoken of, as more improved than the other tribes ; that they 
cultivated cotton, and made vestments of it ; wore also plates of gold, as 
ornaments, and had other gold articles in abundance. To what has been 
lemarked concerning them, I add, from D'Acugna, that they were a very 
warlike, and at the same time, a commercial people. " Some of the cot- 
ton-stuffs they made were very fine, and wove with threads of different 
colors ; and so neatly made, that the threads could not be distinguished, 
and it seemed as if the cloth was painted. These stuffs they made not only 
to gratify their fancy and for their own use, but to trade with their neigh, 
bors, who sought them with great avidity." This is a very remarkable 
nation, for it appears, from D'Acugna, they are the only one on the Amazon 
who wear apparel. It is this nation, as before observed, who were proba- 
Wy the Omegas, reported to inhabit a country abounding in gold, where 
the first El Dorado was sought, and whom Urra professed to have seen. 

Some further particulars regarding this nation are collected from Orel- 

lana's voyage down the Amazon. He came to a province on the north 

side " called Machiparo, very populous, and bordering on another territory 

called Aomagua," (the Omaguas.) He then describes a number of towns 

he passed after leaving Machiparo. On the third day he came to a small 

but handsome town, and though some opposition was made, they entered 

at, and found much provision in a house, with fine earthenware, as jars, 

pitchers, and other sorts of vessels, glazed and painted in lively colors, all 

which things the Indians said were to be had up in the country, besides 

much gold and silver. Came to several other towns — one of them was 

divided into several wards, with each of them a road to the river ; another, 

from which went great roads paved with rows of trees ; and another, 

where they found some good cotton garments and a place of worship, with 

weapons hanging in it, and two mitres, like those of o ir bishops, with 

several colors ; afterward, to one '.irough which was a rivulet, and in the 

* Humbold'ts Pers. Nar., vol. 1, p. 193. 



THE YORI MANS. $7 

middle a great square, where they obtained provisions. All along there 
were villages, and some very large towns. * 

" Eighteen leagues below this province, on the south side," observes 
D'Acugna, " is that of the Yorimans, a very numerous and warlike nation 
who extend for sixty leagues along the river and the islands. He came 
to a village of theirs, which was the largest he had seen on the river. 
The houses were contiguous to each other, and continued so for the dis- 
tance of a league. Each of the houses contained not one family, but in 
those which were least filled there were four or five families. As he left 
this place, he continually met with the villages of this nation, one after 
another. Two leagues below the province of the Yorimans, on the south 
side, is the river Cachiguara, the first Indians on which are called by the 
same name — all the rest are called Caciguaries, and wear great plates of 
gold at their ears and nostrils. Some space farther down, on the south 
side, are the Caripunas and Yorimans ; " the most ingenious and handy 
craftsmen that we saw in the country. They make chairs, in the 
forms of beasts, with so much curiosity, and so commodiously, that 
none can be contrived better. They also cut a raised figure so much 
to the life, and so exactly, upon a coarse piece of wood, that many 
of our carvers might take pattern by them ', and these things were 
made not only to gratify their fancy, or for their own use, but there- 
by they maintained a trade with their neighbors." j- 

With the fondness for travelling and intercourse with each omer, which 
characterize the American Indians, there cannot be a doubt that the na- 
tions on the Amazon were all well acquainted with the countries around 
them, the rivers which passed through them, and the regions to which 
they led. Some of them, besides, being of a warlike and commercial 
character, these rivers would be sometimes traversed ty them, either to 
conquer the territories upon them, or on trading expeditions ; and the mi- 
grating disposition of the American aborigines wou^d sometimes induce 
them to change their residence. The Rio Negro, <-he largest arm of the 
Amazon, could not fail to be known to the nation upon it to a great dis- 
tance. A circumstance connected with it, besdes its superior size and 
importance, would greatly contribute to give it notoriety — the communi- 
cation which exists between it and the (Tronoke, by the Cassiquiari. 
There can be scarce a doubt, that this ri^er was in early times greatly 
traversed ; that a constant intercourse listed between the Amazon and 
Oronoke through it; and that probacy some of the, tribes on the latter 
moved through it from the former. An evidence of this is seen in the 
multitude of nations which D'Acvgna relates were upon it, at the time he 
made his voyage. 

The Rio Nee 'o being knrwn, the Rio Eranco, its principal branch, 
must also, from the like reives of curiosity, conquest or traffic, have 
been explored and traversed to its sou! be by some of the Indians on the 
Amazon ; and the Wlvte Sea of Parima could not but have been known. 

* Heneia, vol. j. t D'Aucusna, lxiii. 



$g ELDORADO. 

The same causes which gave it celebrity on the coast of Guyana and on 
the Oronoke, would spread its fame on the Amazon by this river, whose 
many branches, over an extent of more than two hundred miles, rise out 
of it. 

It would, hence, not be surprising if one or more of the warlike, com- 
mercial, and partially improved people on the Amazon, had at a very 
early period ascended this river to its source, and established in the region 
of Parima a community somewhat superior to the other tribes of Guyana, 
and introduced there a great portion of the gold plates and other articles 
of gold related to be in it, in the time of Raleigh. 

Respecting "the armors and shields of gold," described by Juan Marti- 
nez, as seen by him " in the city of Manoa," we are not required to deny 
their existence, although the state of improvement there should be no 
other than that I have supposed, and as existed on the Amazon. " Shields 
of gold" are spoken of as having been seen among the Indians on that 
river soon after the discovery of it. The Brazillian savages, who brought 
to Peru the first account of the Omegas, (Omaguas, probably,) which led 
to the expedition of Orsua, said that they had shields of gold set with 
emeralds. They were, perhaps, only plated with gold, to render them a 
more defensive armor, where no other metal existed. "Armors of gold,'" 
I do not find mentioned in the voyages on the Amazon ; but if shields of 
gold were used, it is nut improbable those who had them had also breast- 
plates covered with gold, and other defensive armor of the same kind. Such 
were found tt an early period after the discovery of this Continent, among 
some American Indians, as on the coast of Yucatan, whose inhabitants were 
in the same state of partial civilization as the Omaguas — who wore cotton 
vestments — and, like them, had gold plates and other ornaments of gold in 
abundance. Grivalja, who made a voyage to this coast soon after Colum- 
bus, was presented by the Cacique, relates Herrera, " with plates of gold, 
and some thin ■ board*} covered with gold for armor, which Grivalja put on, 
and had as complete a^et of gold armor as if it had been of steel." He also 
presented him "with a Kead-piece, covered with thin plates of gold ; breast- 
plates, some all gold, anaothers of wood covered with gold ; several cover- 
ings for targets of fine goll, some all gold, and others of the bark of trees 
covered."* 

But on the subject of the ehjgration of tribes from the south to the re- 
gion of Parima, we are not left nitirely to conjecture. One nation near 
the Amazon, it is certain, was not only acquainted with the Rio Branco, 
but had ascended it and established hjelf there. D'Acugna, I have observ- 
ed before, in speaking of the plates oJ gold he saw among the Indians on 
the Amazon, designates a country where he supposes they were obtained, 
or, at least, the gold from which they we>- e made. " On going up the 
Yupura, you meet with the river Iquiari, wVich the Portuguese call the 
Golden river. It springs from the foot of a mountain hard by. Here 
the natives amass gold together, in prodigious quantities. They find it all 

* Herrera, Dec. 11, Book 1, ch. iv. 



THE MANAOS. 69 

in spangles or grains of gold, of a good alloy, which they beat till they 
form those little plates, which they hang at their ears and noses. The 
people of this country that find this gold, trade with it among their neigh- 
bors, who are called the Mavagus." 

" These people," says Condamine, " are the Manaos," and he makes on 
this passage, the following remarks : " The Manaos, according to P. Fritz, 
(a missionary, who passed over the country later than D'Acugna, and 
constructed a map of it,) were a warlike nation, dreaded by its neigh- 
bors. For a long time, it resisted the arms of the Portuguese ; but there 
are now, many of them established on the Rio Negro. Some of them 
still make incursions in the territories of the savages, and from them the 
Portuguese purchase slaves. P. Fritz says expressly, in his journal, that 
the Manaos whom he saw, who came to traffick with the Indians on the 
borders of the Oronoke, obtained their gold from the Iquiari, and lived 
on the borders of a river named Yarubesh. By making inquiries, I 
learned that in ascending the Yupura five days, you come to a lake on 
the right hand, which is crossed in a day, called Marahi, or Parahi, which, 
in the Brazillian language, signifies water of the river ; and that thence, 
drawing the canoe over those parts which are bare, but are inundated 
during the floods, you enter into a river called the Yurubesh, by which 
you descend in five days to the Rio Negro, which some days higher 
receives the Quiquiari, which has many falls, and comes from a country 
of mountains and mines. Can it be doubted, that these are the Yurubesh 
and Iquiari ? and that the former rises in a lake in the interior ? In the map 
of P. Fritz is placed a large village of Manaos, in the same district. I could 
obtain no positive intelligence of it, which is not extraordinary, as the 
nation of Manaos have been transplanted and dispersed. But it appears 
very probable, from this capital of the Manaos, has been fabricated the 
city of Manoa. P. Fritz writes the name Manaves. The French trans- 
lator of D'Acugna disfigures this name, by writing Mavagus. The Por- 
tuguese write it at present, Manaos and Manaus." 

This idea of Condamine, of the origin of the name Manao, in reference 
to a place in this region also, explains it as applied by Sir Walter Raleigh, 
to a supposed city on lake Parima. The Manaos or Mahanaos are, also, 
one of the tribes at present about that lake. Their name is in the list 
of nations in this locality, which I received in the interview I had with 
the Charibee chief of the Essequibo ; and the Macoussie Indian, who also 
gave me an account of that lake, said Mahanaos and Ackowavs live 

about it. M. De G , of Demerara, protector of the Indians on the 

Essequibo, a gentleman of the first respectability in that colony, and a 
long resident in it, stated also, this fact to me, without any reference to 
the present subject, " and that they were once a powerful nation, and caused 
much dread." La Cruz, in his map, places them about the east branch 
of the Essequibo, and writes the name Majanaos, or Manaos. 

That these Mahanaos are the same nation with those on the Rio 
Negro, there can be no doubt. The latter were aware of the communi- 



70 EL DORADO." 

cation afforded by the Rio Branco, with Dutch, now British Guyana. 
Southey, in his ' History of Brazil,' observes : " The remotest establish- 
ment on the Rio Negro, is S. Jose des Marybatanes, on the right bank, 
four hundred and eighty-five leagues from the city of Para, and nine 
leagues below the mouth of the Cassiquiari, which unites it with the Rio 
Negro. Between S. Jose and Lumaloga, a distance of about one hun- 
dred and twelve leagues, there were about seventeen settlements. Luma- 
loga stands upon the right bank. The inhabitants are a mixed race of 
Manaos, Bares, and Banibas. A little above it, the river Hijaa disem- 
bogues, which is remarkable for having been the head-quarters of a 
Manao chief, by name Ajuricaba, formidable in his day, and still famous 
in these parts. The Manaos were the most numerous tribe upon the Rio 

Negro Ajuricaba was one of the most powerful Caciques of this 

powerful nation, about the year 1720, and made an alliance with the 
Dutch of the Essequibo, with whom he traded by the way of the Rio 
Branco. The trade, on his part, consisted in slaves. In order to obtain 
them, he hoisted the Dutch flag, scoured the Rio Negro, and captured all 
the Indians on whom he could lay hands.* 

It appears, from another writer, that the inhabitants on the Rio Negro 
had, at a much earlier period, a knowledge of this internal communica- 
tion. Thirty leagues before you come to this river, observes D'Acugna, 
in 1639, is the river Basurura, which enters the Amazon on the north 
side. It extends a great distance into the country and forms several great 
lakes, so that the country is divided into divers large islands, which are 
peopled with an infinite number of inhabitants, who are called Cara- 
buyavas — among some of whom we saw iron tools and weapons, such as 
hatchets, halberds, bills and knives ; and on asking by his interpreters 
whence they had them, they replied, that they bought them of the peo- 
ple of the country who dwell nearest the sea, on that side ; who were 
white men like us, used the same arms, swords and guns, and had houses 
upon the sea-coast, and had light hair ; which was sufficient to satisfy 
us they were the Dutch, who, in 1638, invaded Guyana, and made 
themselves masters of it. How this intercourse was carried on, he 
learned when he came to the Rio Negro ; for he was informed there that 
it had a large arm, which came near another great river which empties 
into the sea at the north, where the Dutch have their settlements ; which 
arm was, no doubt, the Rio Branco. He supposes the great river which 
it approaches, to be the river Phillipe, or Smooth river, which empties 
into the North Cape ; for he is certain it could not be the Oronoke, which 
is too far north. Of the Essequibo, he appears to have been entirely 
ignorant — and it was on this river that the first settlements of the Dutch 
in Guyana were made.f 

These facts furnish a satisfactory explanation of this rumored city of 
Manoa on lake Parima, to which Juan Martinez, and after him Raleigh, 
applied the name of El Dorado ; and renders that which the Mariwui 

* Hist, of Brazil, vol. 3. pp. 710, 7U. t D'Acugna, cli. Ixiv and Uv. 



THEMAHANAOS. 71 

Inquirer states the ancient Indian from the head of Surinam gave it> 
Parroowa Parrocare Monoan, properly translated, White Sea of the 
Manaos, or Manoas. I have seen the name Mahanaos in a list of Indian 
nations of Guyana, written Mahanoas, with the vowels reversed. It is 
contracted, as that of the Charibee chief, Mahanerwa, is commonly pro- 
nounced Manerwa. 

This powerful nation, making its conquests in every direction, there 
can be no doubt, from what has been stated, ascended the Rio Branco, 
and established itself in the mountains of Parima, in the midst of 
which lies this lake, and formed there a large settlement, or community 3 
which bore its name, and where it introduced an abundance of orna- 
ments and other articles of gold. And as it probably kept up a con- 
stant communication with its primitive abode, there must have been 
a constant influx of them into this region, from which they were spread 
over Guyana. Condamine states that P. Fritz relates, that in 1687, he 
saw arrive eight or ten canoes of the Manaos, who, from their habitations! 
on the banks of the Yurubesh, availed themselves of the inundations to 
trade with his Catechumens on the north bank of the Amazon ; that thev 
were accustomed to carry, among other things, small plates of beaten, 
gold, which they received in exchange from the Indians of the Iquiari. 
The European colonist, residing on the Essequibo, mentioned at page 37, 
related to me, that in 1783, he witnessed on the Rippununi the last battle 
fought between the Charibees and Cannibals, by which he meant the Ma- 
hanaos, as they are so called by the Charibees, who have themselves; 
been similarly characterized, but unjustly, by Europeans. The Ma- 
hanaos must, even then, have been a considerable nation ; for it appears 
they were able to resist this powerful and most courageous tribe, who, 
although they have subjugated all the others at the sources of the Esse- 
quibo, and hold there a predominant sway, have not advanced west of the 
Rippununi. 

The view which I have thus given, of the origin of the name of the 
city of Manoa, in the narrative of Sir Walter Raleigh, is different from 
that entertained by Humboldt. He remarks, there is no doubt that the 
whole region from the Caqueta, or Yupura, where Condamine places the 
Mahanaos, to the Cordillera of Parima, was, at first, generally denomina- 
ted the golden country, or the Dorado, though the expeditions were direct- 
ed to two points ; the space between the Caqueta and the Rio Negro, which 
he terms the Dorado of the Omaguas, and that between the Essequibo 
and the Oronoke, which he calls the Dorado of Parima ; but he denies 
that the idea of Manoa, or the rich city, and the gilded king, was ever 
applied to the latter — that the information Raleigh received of Manoa, had 
reference to the former ; and that the whole narrative of Martinez is a pure 
fiction. " I believe," he says, " I can demonstrate, that the fable of Juan 
Martinez, spread abroad by the narrative of Raleigh, was founded on the 
adventure of Juan Martinez de Albujar,well known to the Spanish histo- 
rians of the Conquest, and who, in the expedition of Pedro de Sylva, fell 



72 EL DORADO. 

into the hands of the Charibees of the lower Oronoke. . . . After having 
wandered among the Charibees, the desire of rejoining the whites led him 
by the Essequibo to the island of Trinidad. ... I know not whether he 
died at Porto Rico ; but it cannot be doubted, that it was he who learned 
from the Charibee traders, the name of the Manaos of Urubesb," (Uara- 
baxa, a branch of the Rio Negro, the original seat of this nation). 

The Juan Martinez of Raleigh, may have been the individual Albujar ; 
but there is nothing which prevents the belief, that Albujar himself 
travelled to the place he describes, and gives an account of what he saw. 
The idea of Humboldt, that the author of the relation attributed by Ra- 
leigh to Martinez, was never there, and that the relation is purely ficti- 
tious, founded on reports of the Manaos of Yurubesh,and consequently 
either invented or imagined b)^ Raleigh, or Berreo ; is evidently derived 
from an opinion he had previously adopted, that no such place exists in 
Guyana. But, in opposition to it, I have already shown, that Juan Marti- 
nez is not the only person who, at that time, spoke of a place called 
Manoa, situated upon a lake in the interior of Guyana — that it was 
heard of, by several voyagers on the coast — by Keymis, at the Oronoke, 
Essequibo and Oyapoke rivers — by Berrie, on the Corentine — and by the 
Mariwin Inquirer, the associate of Robert Harcourt, in the most distinct 
manner, from an Indian from the head of the Surinam. Humboldt, 
himself, also observes, when he had arrived at Esmeralda, the last post 
on the Oronoke, which is west of the site of this supposed city, nearly in 
the same latitude, "so near the sources of the Oronoke, we heard of no- 
thing in these mountains but the proximity of El Dorado — the lake Pari- 
raa, and the ruins of the great city of Manoa."* Further, De Pons, in his 
map of Venezuela, &c, before mentioned, published in 1805, prepared 
from observations made by him, during a four years' residence in the 
Spanish territories, places upon the east side of his lake Parima, which 
figures conspicuously upon it, "Manoa, the supposed capital of Dorado:" 
designated by a mark. Such are the ideas entertained at so late a period, 
in Venezuela and Spanish Guyana, on this subject. But it will be here- 
after shown, that, in 1775, an Intendant of Angustura was induced, by 
the representations of an Indian, to send an expedition expressly to 
discover this rich and splendid city in the interior of Guyana. 

In this region, too, it was thought to exist by the French, after they had 
formed their colony of Cayenne. In 1674, was published a work, by two 
missionaries, entitled, "Journal of the Travels of John Grillet and 
Francis Bechemel, into Guyana, in order to discover the great lake 
of Parima, and the many cities said to be situated on its banks, and rejntted 
the richest in the world." 

I am inclined, indeed, to think, that the name of Manoa was princi- 
pally applied to a city or place on lake Parima. While it is often men- 
tioned by visitors to the coast of Guyana, neither Orellana, nor D'Acug- 
na — who made their voyage down the Amazon, before Condamine — heard 

* Humboldt's Fers. Narr., ch. xxiv. 



CHIEF'S RELATION. 73 

it on this river, which could not fail to have reached their ears, if a place 
called by this name was situated in this region. D'Acugna, # indeed, 
supposes the space between the Yurubesh and the Iquiari, to be the site 
of the golden country and lake ; but he does not speak of the city of 
Manoa, or mention, at all, this name. Condamine was the first that con- 
nects it with this region, which he does, as the Mahanaos residing there 
explain the origin of the name ; — but he seems to take it entirely from 
Raleigh's narrative ; for, to this place, also, he transfers the lake Parima 
— of which he knew nothing. " It is no other," he says, " than the little 
lake Mari-hi, or Para-hi, which communicates with the Yupura, a word 
which might easily have been changed into Parima" — an idea having as 
little foundation as that of an English writer, who thinks that the lake in- 
Guyana took its name from Lord Willoughby, of Parham, who obtained 
the first grant of Surinam, and that he also gave his name to Paramaribo, 
(that fine sounding Indian word,) the capital of that colony. 

The name may, however, have been applied by the Indians to both 
places, in consequence of the Mahanaos being the principal nation in 
each ; but this is immaterial to my purpose, which is only to explain the 
origin of it, as designating a city in the interior of Guyana, and the rela- 
tions made concerning it. 

Connected with the account which Sir Walter Raleigh has given of the 
rich and magnificent city of Manoa, or El Dorado, which he received 
from the Governor of Trinidad and other Spaniards, he relates other cir- 
cumstances concerning it, communicated to him by the Charibee chief on 
the Oronoke, with whom he made an alliance, which contributed not less, 
in the minds of some, to give interest to his narrative, while it furnished 
further materials to his enemies to represent him as a weak dupe of his 
credulity, or a dishonest fabricator of romantic tales, to impose on that of 
the public. 

The relation of the Charibee chief he thus gives : 

After acquainting him with the object of his visit to the Oronoque, and 
making inquiries of him respecting Guyana, its extent, and the nations 
inhabiting it, the chief answered : " That all his people, with all those 
down the river toward the sea, as far as Emeria, (the last province,) were 
of Guyana, and that all the nations between the river and those moun- 
tains in sight, called Wacaraima, were of the same cast and appellation, 
and that on the other side of those mountains was a valley, called the 
valley of Amariocapana. In all that valley the people were of the 
ancient Guyanians ; and that, in regard to the nations on the other side 
of the mountains, beyond the valley, he said that he remembered in his 
father's lifetime — when he was very old, and himself a young man — that 
there came down in that large valley of Guyana a nation, from so far off 
as the sun slept ; with so great a multitude, as they could not be numbered 
aor resisted ; that they wore large coats and hats of crimson color, and were 
called Oreiones and Epuremei, and who slew and rooted out the ancient 
people, who were very numerous, except two — the Iwaraqueri and the 



74 EL DORADO. 

Cassipagotos ; that they had built a great town, called Macureguarai, at 
the said mountain foot, at the beginning of the great plains of Guyana, 
which have no end ; and that their houses have many rooms, one over 
another ; and that therein their great King kept three thousand men, to 
defend the borders against them, and withall daily to invade and slay 
them. But, that of. late years, since the Christians threatened to invade his 
territories and theirs, they were all at peace, and traded with one another, 
except the Iwaraqueri and the Cassipagotos.* He told me further, that 
four days' journey from his town was Macureguarai, and that they were 
the nearest of the Epuremei, and the first town of apparelled and rich 
people ; and that all those plates of gold, which were scattered among 
the borderers, and carried to other nations, far and near, were from 
there, and were there made ; but that those of the land within were 
far finer, and were fashioned after the image of men, beasts, birds, and 
fishes." f 

This relation of the Charibee chief possesses great interest, from the 
names by which the invaders of Guyana are called ; " the Oreiones and 
Epuremei ;" for the Oreiones were the lords and nobles of Peru, and 
must therefore refer to an invasion of Peruvians. The " large coats and 
red hats of crimson color," which they wore, are besides not applicable 
to any savage and uncivilized nation, and more appropriate to the inhabit- 
ants of Peru than to any other people of South America. Sir Walter 
Raleigh, not doubting of this, immediately connects it with the flight of 
one of the Incas into Guyana, and supposes that it occasioned a highly 
improved state of society in it. "Because," he observes, "there may 
arise some doubt how this empire of Guyana is become so populous, and 
adorned with so many great cities, towns, temples, and treasures, I 
thought good to make it known, that the Emperor now reigning, is de. 
scended from the magnificent princes of Peru. For, when Francisco 
Pizarro, Diego Almagro, and others, conquered the said empire of Peru, 
and had put to death Atabalipa, son of Guaynacapa, one of the younger 
sons of Guaynacapa fled out of Peru, and took with him many soldiers of 
the empire, called Oreiones, and, with them and many others which 
followed him, he vanquished all that tract and valley of America which 
is situate between the great river Amazon and the Oronoke." $ In this 
description it' is proper to distinguish the fact, stated by Raleigh, of the 
invasion of Guyana by one of the Incas, from the conclusion he draws 
from it. The former was a reasonable inference from the narrative of 
the Indian chief. If an invasion of Guyana was made by the Oreiones, 
or nobles of Peru, it is probable that it was conducted by one of the Incas. 
Such a large emigration could not have been produced but through the 
influence and under the guidance of some eminent chief; and who would 
more probably lead them than one of the Incas, who were immediately 
over them ? In regard to the improvement which he supposes to have 
been, in consequence, produced in Guyana, he has given scope to his 

* Cayley. vol. 1, p. 179. t Cayley, vol. 1. pp. 239-240. t Cayley, vol. 1. P 264. 



APPARELLED INDIANS. 75 

imagination, filled with ideas of the rich cities of Peru, and pictured a 
state of things as necessarily arising from such emigration, of which he 
had no evidence ; and whether it existed or not, could only be known when 
the deep forests of Guyana had been penetrated and explored : — but in 
forming such a picture, some allowance should be made to him, as his 
mind had already been prepared to fall into this delusion, by the impres- 
sions he received from Berreo, and the relation of Juan Martinez. But, 
however conjectural his idea was, it is entirely distinct from the position 
he assumes, and on which he founds it — the emigration of one of the Incas 
into Guyana. , 

It is remarkable, that intimations are given by several writers, of appa- 
relled Indians in the interior of Guyana. Thus, Key mis says, he was 
informed, on the Oronoke, " that a nation of chthed people, called Cassana- 
ri, dwell not far from where the river takes its name ; and that far within 
they border upon a sea of salt water, called Parima :" which is the region 
I am examining — the site of Manoa. Thomas Masham, who wrote the 
account of the third expedition made by Raleigh, remarks : " The people 
in all the lower parts of the country go naked, both men and women, &c. 
In the upper country they are apparelled ; being, as it were, of a more 
civil disposition (more civilized,) having great store of gold ; as we are 
certainly informed by the lower Indians, of whom we had some gold, 
which they bought and brought in the high country of Wiana :" (Guy- 
ana.) 

A much later writer has given a confirmation of these statements. 
Hartsinck, the Dutch historian of Guyana, remarks : " The borders of 
lake Parima are inhabited by numerous nations ; some are clothed, and 
do not suffer strangers to come thither. In the year 1755, upon the re- 
lations of a certain Indian chief, the Spaniards made three successive 
expeditions into the interior, to reach lake Parima ; but were so much 
opposed by the Indians, and in the last especially, that they never desired 
to undertake it again, though they brought with them four prisoners of the 
clothed nation, which Mr. Persick, of the council of justice of Essequibo, 

and other traders, saw." To this I add, that M. De G , protector of 

the Indians on the Essequibo, gave me, in 1820, the following statement: 
" Lake Parima is inhabited by several nations, and among them is a very 
remarkable one, who wear clothes, and shun all intercourse with other 
Indians. This he heard from several Indians." 

Of the Guaypanabis, on the upper Oronoke, Humboldt remarks, "they 
are more industrious, he might almost say more civilized, than the other 
Indians of that region ; and that the missionaries relate, that in the time 
of their sway they were pretty generally clothed, and had considerable 
villages. 

Respecting the plates of gold, which the Oreiones and Epuremei are 
said to have possessed, no remarks are necessary, after what has been 
observed on the same subject, in the examination made of the relation of 
Martinez. 



76 EL DORADO. 

And before Sir Walter Raleigh is heavily censured, for his belief of 
what Hume calls his " chimerical flight of the Incas,'"' it will be proper 
to attend to the remarks of some writers on this subject. 

It appears, from Humboldt, to be a fact, that Manco Inca, brother of 
Atahualpa, who was slain by the Spaniards, after this event fled ; which, 
says he, gave rise to the idea of the empire of the Incas in Dorado. (It is 
to him that Raleigh refers, When he says : For when Pizarro, and others, 
&c, had conquered Peru, and put to death Atabalipa, son to Guaynacapa, 
one of the younger sons of Guaynacapa fled out of Peru, &c.) " Manco 
Inca," says Humboldt, " acknowledged as the legitimate successor of 
Atahualpa, made war, without success, against the Spaniards. He 
retired, at length, into the mountains and thick forests of Vilcabamba. 
Of his two sons, the eldest, Sayri-Tupac, surrendered himself to the 
Spaniards, upon the invitation of the Viceroy of Peru. He was received 
with great pomp at Lima ; was baptized there, and died peaceably in 
the fine valley of Yucay. The youngest son, Tupac Amaru, was carried 
off by stratagem from the forests of Vilcabamba, and beheaded on pre- 
text of a conspiracy formed against the Spanish usurpers. At the same 
period, thirty-five distant relations of the Inca Atahualpa, were seized 
and conveyed to Lima, in order to remain under the inspection of the 
Audiencia, (Garcillasso, vol. 2, pp. 194, 480, 501.) It is interesting to 
inquire, whether any other princes of the family of Manco Capac have 
remained in the forests of Vilcabamba, and if there still exist any de- 
scendants of the Incas of Peru. This supposition gave rise, in 1741, to 
the famous rebellion of the Chuncoas, and to that of the Awayos and 
Campoes, led on by their chief, Juan Santos, called the false Atahualpa." 

Southey, who in his history of Brazil treats the whole account of El 
Dorado as entirely imaginary, originating from reports spread in New 
Grenada of the wealth of Peru ; and there, of that of New Grenada, 
observes, that in support of the reality of Dorado, " it was said, in the 
Spanish provinces, that a younger brother of Atabalipa had fled after the 
destruction of the Incas, and founded in the region, where the golden city 
was supposed to be, a greater empire than that of which his family had 
been deprived." 

A more recent writer than either of the above, Compagnoni, an Italian 
author, has taken a view of this subject, which places the narrative of 
Raleigh in a still more favorable light. The work I have not seen j 
and my knowledge of it is derived from the North American Review, 
1828, No. lx., which observes upon it :* " In these volumes there is an 
investigation of the far-famed El Dorado. The circumstances collected 
by Compagnoni, certainly tend to show, that the existence of some offset 
of the Incas, within the interior of the continent, is neither so impossible 
nor so improbable as generally supposed. The traditions among the Pe- 
ruvians have been constant, that a body of their countrymen, led by some 

' * The title of the work is " Storia del America, Opera Originale Italiana in Continvazione del Compendio 
della Universelle, del Signer Compte de Segur, by Compagnoni." 



THE TURPINAMBAS. 77 

of the surviving Incas, fled beyond the mountains, into regions not yet 
explored." 

On this subject there is a most extraordinary passage in the Journal of 
the Mariwin Inquirer, the associate of Robert Harcourt, who made a 
voyage to the Oyapoke, in 1608 — to whom I have several times referred. 
I have observed that he states, the ancient Indian, from the head of the 
Surinam, called lake Parima, Parrooioan Parrocare Monoan, signifying 
White Sea of the Manoas. And that " the chief Captain, or as he called 
him, Acariwanora, there, was Pepodallapa." I do not hesitate to acknow- 
ledge the surprise with which I met with this name — for, can there be 
a doubt that it was meant for Atabalipa, the name of the Inca slain by 
the Spaniards, and which may have been taken by the representative 
of the family, as was the case in Peru in later times ? 

The chief of Manoas appears to have possessed great power and influ- 
ence ; for the Inquirer relates, once in every third year, all the Caciques, 
lords, and captains — some seven days' journey — do come to a great drink- 
ing, &c. ; which might be considered a regular homage, or acknowledg- 
ment made to him. 

A circumstance that gives weight to this relation of the Mariwin 
Inquirer, is, that he appears unconscious of the meaning of the name of 
the chief; and is therefore free from the suspicion of having introduced 
it to favor Raleigh ; if, indeed, other circumstances did not protect him 
from it. 

These remarks are perhaps all that, consistent with the plan of this 
volume, founded entirely upon well-authenticated facts, it is proper to 
make ; and I might leave to the reader, to form his own opinion on the 
subject. Should the reality of the flight of one of the branches of the 
Incas, into Guyana, ever be fully established, an ample field for reflec- 
tions will then be presented, far exceeding in interest any other passage in 
the history of the aboriginal nations of America. I cannot, however, but 
observe, that this event does not appear to be wholly beyond the bounds 
of probability. Other instances have occurred in South America, of 
nations whom the consternation excited by the invasion and conquest of 
their territories by Europeans, and the hatred the injuries they received 
from them occasioned, induced to abandon, entirely, their territories, and 
remove to some distant region. When D'Acugna made his voyage down 
tha Amazon, he found the Tupinambas, a numerous, warlike and inge- 
nious people, inhabiting an island sixty leagues in length, a few leagues 
bflow the Rio Negro. But this had not been long their abode. They 
were one of the most important nations of Brazil, extending over a vast 
country, in which they had eighty-two villages ; but when the Portuguese 
established themselves at Rio Janiero, rather than submit to their yoke, 
they withdrew in a body, leaving not a single individual in any of their 
villages. They made a long journey on the east side of the Andes, 
crossing all the rivers that descend from it into the Amazon ; and at 
length came to the island which they then inhabited. 



73 ELDORADO. 

Another instance, is that of the Omaguas, on the river Amazon, already 
mentioned — a numerous and warlike nation, and also more improved and 
civilized than any other on that river. They came, according to D'Acugna, 
from the province of Quixos, near Quito ; but how long they had been on 
the Amazon, is not stated. Not all, however, removed ; and those that 
remained when the Spaniards arrived, made peace with them ; but wea- 
ried, at last, with the ill-treatment they received, they descended one of 
the streams which flow into the Amazon, and joined themselves to their 
kinsmen on that river. When D'Acugna wrote, there were some of this 
nation at the head of the Potamayo, which rises near Pasto, and who also 
were the last on the Yotan, a southern tributary of the Amazon, which 
has its source near Cusco. From a circumstance related by Southey, in 
his ' History of Brazil,' the dread and dislike of the Spaniards which the 
retreating Omaguas possessed, and which they infused into their country- 
men, must have been very great. " It is surprising," observes the histo- 
rian, " that Orellana, in his voyage down the Amazon, makes no men- 
tion of this nation ; but the Omaguas of Quito explain the circumstance : 
they relate, that they were there when he came ; but as he approached, 
they retired, and part went up the Rio Negro j" although Orellana ap- 
peared with only a single vessel, and a small party, and came with no 
intention to molest the natives. 

If such were the dread and aversion which the European conquerors 
inspired in these nations, how intense must have been their operation in 
Ihe minds of the family of the Incas, who ruled over, not a single tribe, 
but an extensive, and flourishing empire, filled with rich cities, con- 
taining edifices splendidly decorated with gold and silver; and a people 
whom they found wild and savage, without cultivation, arts, or comforta- 
ble abodes, and by their wise and benignant sway, had elevated to their 
present happy and prosperous condition ; by whom they were in con- 
sequence not only beloved, but, connected with the mysterious manner in 
which the founder of their race appeared among them, reverenced as of 
celestial origin — Children of the Sun, the deity whom they worshipped. 
It was a sovereign race, possessed of such extensive power and author- 
ity, and so adored and revered by its subjects, that saw its empire over- 
turned ; its seats of magnificence plundered ; its splendid temples, after 
being stripped of their costly decorations, demolished ; and after many 
grievances and humiliations suffered by them, their reigning prince, Ata- 
balipa, put to death. 

How great was their mortification at these disastrous, and overwhelm- 
ing events, to themselves and nation, it is difficult for us to conceive. 
What the effect of them was upon the Peruvians, historians furnish 
some evidence. Such was the distress among them, says Herrera, 
when the tidings of his death was spread abroad, that many men and 
women killed themselves, to attend him in the other world. And the 
grief and regret they experienced, has been transmitted to their descend- 
ants to the latest times. The Indians of Peru, says a historian, in 1748 ; 



M_ANCO INC A. 79 

have not forgotten the love they bore their native Kings. In most of the 
great towns in the interior, they revive the memory of the death of Ata- 
balipa, annually, on a certain day, by a sort of tragedy ; in which they 
clothe themselves in their ancient manner, and wear images of the sun 
and moon, with other symbols of their idolatry. At these festivals they 
indulge in excessive drinking, and use in every mode their liberty. En- 
deavors have been made by the Spaniards to suppress these solemnities, 
and they have of late years debarred them the use of the stage in which 
they represented the death of the Inca.* An English traveller, much 
later (in 1825) remarks : " That some of the Peruvians living at a dis- 
tance from the capital, and who are more immediately descended from 
the last Inca, still continue to mourn for him, is a fact well known ; and 
the mournful songs, or yarrabies, which lament that unhappy transaction, 
are chanted at this hour."f Under the feelings which the remaining 
branches of the royal family would possess, after the disastrous events 
which befell them, it would not be surprising if they resolved to remove 
to some other region, not only from apprehension of meeting the fate of 
Atabalipa, but from the great aversion produced in their minds to their 
conquerors. But on this subject we are not left to supposition. It ap- 
pears from the extract I have made from Humboldt, that it is admitted 
that they fled across the Andes ; and in a Spanish work I have met with, 
I have found this fact not only confirmed, but the region mentioned, to 
which they removed. " All the Indians," says the author, " who are on 
the river Aprumack, one of the streams which form the Ucayal, one of 
the largest tributaries of the Amazon, and rises in the mountains around 
Cuscn, are descendants of the army of forty thousand who fed with Manco 
Inca, hrotlier of Atahualpa."% 

Although there is no historical account of the progress of the family 
of the Incas, or of any of them, down the Ucayal, this event does not 
appear wholly improbable. It can scarcely be believed, that they would 
be content to remain perpetually in a degraded state, in a corner of their 
former empire ; nor that the regrets and complaints of their subjects, 
would not be too painful for them to support. We may reasonably sup- 
pose, that after their spirits had, in a degree, recovered from the effects of 
their humiliating overthrow, some one among them would embrace the 
project of endeavoring to restore their empire, in some region unknown 
to their conquerors ; and he would naturally seek it by descending this 
river, which flows into the Amazon ; and would in such case, with a cer- 
tainty, be attended by a number of Peruvians ; and particularly the 
Oreiones, or nobles, who were immediately about the royal family. A 
knowledge of the Amazon and the regions upon it, was possessed by the 
Incas, who, according to Humboldt, had extended their arts and arms as 
far as the Yupura ; which is beyond the province of the Omaguas. But 
the inhabitants in the interior of Peru, could not fail, without this circum- 

* Relation of the earthquake at Lima. t Travels of G. Calocleugh to Sontli America, 

X £1 Maiajjcn y Amazene, Historia, Deles, Descubrimentos— Madrid, 1684. 



80 ELDORADO. 

stance, to obtain this information ; as the various streams that flow into 
the Amazon, on the north and south side, descend from the Cordillera of 
the Andes, and particularly those on the Ucayal, which, rising near Cusco, 
were probably greatly traversed. On Orellana's passage down the Napo, 
which enters it on the north side, nearly opposite to the Ucayal, he was 
informed by a Cacique in the province of Coca — several hundred leagues 
from its mouth — of a wealthy lord, on another river, who abounded in gold, 
and who could be no other, than the chief of the Omaguas, who were 
three hundred and seventy leagues below the Napo. This large settle- 
ment of a partially civilized people, wearing apparel, having many gold 
articles among them — and of Peruvian origin, on the Amazon, would 
greatly encourage an enterprising leader in the family of the Incas to de- 
scend the Ucayal into this great stream, and follow it, to seek on its bor- 
ders, or their vicinity, a region in which to establish himself and plant the 
germ of another empire. The Rio Negro — which flows into this river one 
hundred and twenty leagues only below this province, and rises also from the 
Andes — by the intelligence the Incas had, while their reign lasted, of the 
remote provinces of their empire and the countries adjacent, was, un- 
questionably, also known to them. Its great importance, and the many 
nations upon it, were sufficient, also, to spread extensively the knowledge 
of it : and there appears to have been a communication through the in- 
habitants upon it, from its mouth to its source : " We were assured," says 
D'Acugna, on the Amazon, " that this river was inhabited by a great 
number of people, of different nations ; the last of which wear clothes 
and hats like ours — which sufficiently convinced us, that these people 
were not far from the cities of Peru."* There was a particular circum- 
stance, moreover, belonging to it, calculated to give it general notoriety ; 
the communication existing between it and the Oronoke, by the Cassi- 
quiri. It was, probably, formerly a great channel of emigration from 
the west, down the stream, or southwardly, from the Amazon to the bor- 
ders of the Oronoke. Several of the branches of the Saliva nation — who 
are mild and tranquil tribes, the most numerous nation on that river, after 1 
the Charibees — appear to have come from the Peruvian territories. " The 
most ancient abode of this nation," says Humboldt, " appears to have 
been on the western bank of the Oronoke, between the Rio Vichada and 
the Guaviari; also, between the Meta and the Rio Paute."f That of the 
Mapoyes, one of the branches of this nation, was on the banks of the 
Assiveru, or Cuchivero. He often heard them mentioned above the mouth 
of the Meta4 The Maypures, another branch of this nation, according 
toBalbi,(Ethno-graphical Atlas,) speak a language incontestably similar to 
that of the Moxos of Peru. The Atorays, who now inhabit the region of Pari- 
ma, and who, I have observed, are probably the same with the Atures of the 
Oronoke, have also some words in their language like those of the Moxos, 
and also the Quichua, which is the general language of Peru. The Ar- 
rowacks, who are spread along the coast of Guyana, are, I believe, allied 

* D'Acugna, ch. Isv. t Humboldt's Pers. Nar., ch. xix. + Humboldt's Pers. Nar., ch ix. 



MAN CO INC A. si 

to the Saliva nation ; as their language has some words resembling the 
Atoray and Maypure, and likewise the Moxos and Quichua. 

Tnese affinities are shown in the table, Appendix No. VI. 

The period when the invasion of Guyana was made by the Oreiones 
and Epuremei, as related by the Charibee chief, corresponds with the 
time when the Spaniards were making their conquests in Peru, and over- 
turned the empire of the Incas ; as his relation was made to Raleigh in 
1595, when he was in a very advanced age ; and he states that the inva- 
sion of the Oreiones occurred when he was a young man. And the 
hatred of the Spaniards, excited in the minds of the Peruvians by the 
conquest of their empire and the execution of Atabalipa, must have been 
greatly increased by the persecution the whole of the royal family receiv- 
ed ; — as Humboldt, it has been seen, states, that after it, thirty-five of his 
distant relations were seized and conveyed to Lima. 

Southey, it has been observed, states, that a circumstance which encour- 
aged the idea of El Dorado in the minds of the Spaniards, Avas an opinion 
among them that one of the Incas had fled to some other country, where 
he had again built a city, and undertook to revive their empire ; and Com- 
pagnoni remarks, that it was a general impression among them that he had 
fled to some region wholly unknown to them. This unknown region could 
refer to no part of Peru, or the northern or western part of New-Grenada, 
but only to the southeastern portion of the latter province, in which EI 
Dorado was first sought, or to Guyana ; both which regions were unex- 
plored. The country could not be any part of Brazil, for there was no 
passage into it by any of the southern tributaries of the Amazon west of 
the Rio Negro, all which descend from the Andes of Peru ; and whatever 
branch of the family of the Incas was on this expedition in search of a 
retreat, his attention would not fail to be arrested by this river, from the 
information he received from the tribes on the Amazon, in its vicinity, 
though he had not directed his course to it. He would also be informed 
of its principal branch— the Rio Branco — and of the region of Parima and 
the White Sea, to which it led, which, as I have remarked, had probably 
acquired as great celebrity on the Amazon as in other directions ; and, in 
determining to ascend the Rio Negro, he might prefer the deep forests of 
the interior of Guyana for an asylum, as a region where he would be less 
liable to be invaded by the conquerors of his empire, to the borders of the 
Oronoke, which were easily accessible from the sea, or by its western tribu- 
taries that flow from the mountains of New-Grenada, where the Spaniards 
were then, as in Peru, pursuing their conquests. 

In addition to the information which he might have acquired among the 
inhabitants generally of the Amazon, regarding the region of Parima, the 
Omaguas, if they were on this river at that time, would have furnished 
him with a particular account of it ; and if they had been previously dis- 
persed, and part retired up the Rio Negro, this last circumstance would 
strongly incline him to pursue the same route. And as he advanced far- 
ther, the Manoas of the Yurubesh, still nearer the Rio Negro— part of 



82 EL ELDORA&a. 

bly gave rise to the name of Manoa, as of a city there, and kept up a 
constant intercourse between their two establishments — would determine 
all his doubts as to the place of his refuge, and might be willing to 
conduct him thither. It is possible, indeed, that this expedition, if it took 
place, led to the invasion and conquest of the region of Parima by the 
Manaos. If the relation of the Mariwin Inquirer is to be credited, ** that 
the chief captain, or Aqueriwanora, of Manoa, was Pepodallapa, and if this 
name was meant for Atabalipa, there would seem to be a connection be- 
tween the Manaos and a branch of the family of the Incas. Perhaps the 
royal exile may have been willing to accept the aid of this powerful and 
warlike nation, to conquer from the Guyanians the region from which the 
Branco flows, and establish himself in the bosom of its mountains, where 
he would believe himself in perfect security from the invaders of his em- 
pire ; protected not only by its remoteness and obscurity, but by their supe- 
rior bravery ; while they, from respect to an ancient and venerated race, 
whose misfortunes could not but have been heard of by all the tribes of the 
Amazon — and as they astonished, excited universal sympathy and regret — 
would readily become their conductors to it; and the conquest achieved* 
feel proud to acknowledge themselves his subjects. 

We may indulge the hope, that the veil of obscurity which is over this 
region will ere long be removed ; — that some scientific and enterprising 
traveller will undertake to pass over the terra incognita which lies be- 
tween the Essequibo and the Oronoke, and disclose the history of the 
tribes now inhabiting it : in particular, who are the clothed Indians who 
avoid all intercourse with others, reported to be there in 1755, who are 
probably still there ; as three nations described a century since by a trav- 
eller as residing in this region, are yet in the same place, and as the account 
of this clothed nation was confirmed to me in 1820 ; — a journey which 
would De also greatly beneficial to geography, and by the investigation of 
the various productions of this region, not only gratify the curiosity of the 
naturalist, but 3 without doubt, bring to light many which would be useful 
to the world. 



CHAPTER V. 

SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S REPORTS OF THE MINERAL RICHES OF GUYANA, 

EXAMINED. OPINIONS OF HUMBOLDT ON THE SUBJECT. DIFFICULTIES IK 

WHICH RALEIGH BECAME INVOLVED AT HOME, WHICH SUSPENDED HIS 1 

EXPEDITIONS TO GUYANA. HIS TRIAL AND LONG IMPRISONBIENT. i 

i 

Besides the account which Sir Walter Raleigh gave of the city of 
Manoa, " and the civil and apparelled people" who invaded Guyana, and 
established themselves in it, he incurred great censure and ridicule from 
his enemies at that time, and has received the explicit condemnation of' 
some historians from representations made by him of the existence of gold 
in it, and in general, its rich mineral treasures. But that specimens of 
gold were found by him he afforded the most convincing proofs, by bring- 
ing some of the ore with him to England, which he presented to the lord 
high Admiral Howard, and Sir Robert Cecil, of the privy council, asi 
he states in the preface of' the Narrative of his voyage, which he 
addressed to them. 

His enemies were not, however, silenced by this evidence. They 
endeavored to negative it, and prove him a gross deceiver. It was 
reported that the ore had been ascertained not to be gold ; others asked, 
if the metal had been found, why he did not bring home a greater quan- 
tity of it ; others again, said it was not obtained in Guyana, but brought 
by him from Africa. 

To all these charges, he fully replies in his preface. " It is true," he 
observes, " that on being informed by an Indian, that not far from the port 
where he anchored, there were found certain mineral stones which they 
considered gold, he sent a party of his men there with orders for each ta 
bring him a specimen, but which when brought he found was marcasite, 
and of no value ; but some of them, trusting more to their ideas than his 
opinion, kept them, and showed them in several places, ta Guyana, in- 
deed," he says, "all the rocks, mountains, all stones in the plain, in woods, 
and by the rivers, are thorough shining, and marvellous rich, and are the 
true signs of minerals, but are no other than what the Spaniards call el 
raadre del oro, (the mother of gold,) of several sorts of which his com- 
pany brought also to England. But he was assured that gold was to be 
found either in grains separate from the stone, as it is in most of the rivers 
of Guyana, or else in a kind of stone which they called white spar. . . 
Near one of the' rivers he found a great, ledge or bank of this white spar, 
which he endeavored to open, as there appeared on the surface some 
small grains of gold. But not having any means for the purpose, seek- 
ing around the sides, he found a cleft in the rock, from which, with dag- 

6* 



84 ELDORADO. 

gers and the head of an axe, he obtained small quantities of the metal, 
which he brought to England. Of this several trials were made in Lon- 
don, and it was found to contain gold." (He mentions the names of the 
persons by whom the assays were made ; some of them belonging to the 
mint ; and thus, publicly appeals to their testimony.) " Trials were also 
made by the same persons, at that time, on the dust of this mine, which 
held eight pounds six ounces weight of gold in the hundred. But, says 
lie, because his men brought other specimens," (which were, perhaps, those 
referred to,) " all the others have been slandered, and his whole enterprise 
defamed." 

In reply to the question, why he did not bring home a greater quantity ? 
observing, first, that he was not bound to satisfy any one of the quan- 
tity, but such as advertised, he says, " that had all the mountains been 
of massy gold, it was not possible for him to have remained to work it, 
having neither men nor instruments for the purpose. Further, that the 
country was covered with such thick woods, reaching to the very edge of 
the rivers, that in ascending them, it was very difficult to find a place to 
land ; and if this should bo done, to penetrate into the country ; not only 
from this cause, but the heavy floods of water which fall, inundating it 
so, that they would be obliged to wade several feet deep. In addition he 
was four hundred miles from his ships, which he left weakly manned, 
and in an open road, and had been absent a month, although he prom- 
ised to return in fifteen days." 

To the allegation, that the gold was brought from Africa, he thus feel- 
ingly replies : " Others have devised, that the same ore was had from 
Barbary, and that we carried it with us to Guyana. Surely the singu- 
larity of that device, I do not well comprehend. For mine own part, I 
am not so much in love with these long voyages, as to devise thereby, to 
cozen myself, to lie hard, to fare worse, to be subject to perils, to diseases, 
to all seasons ; to be parched and withered, and to sustain all the care and 
labor of such an enterprise, except the same had more comfort than the 
fetching of marcasite in Guyana, or buying of gold ore in Barbary. 
But I hope the better sort will judge me by themselves, and that the way 
of deceit, is not the way of honor or good opinion."* 

The above defence bears the marks of great sincerity, and in forming 
an opinion of Sir Walter Raleigh, from his Narrative, it is proper to dis- 
tinguish the facts he states, from the views he formed upon them. His 
veracity in the recital of the former, there is no reason to question ; while 
a further knowledge of the country has shown, that his ardent and enthu- 
siastic spirit, and lively imagination, led him to form extravagant ideas of 
the mineral riches of Guyana. 

But that he sincerely believed in the account lie gave of the mineral 
treasures in this region, he furnished the strongest further evidence, by 
the expeditions he made to it the two succeeding years after, for the same 
object, though not able to accompany them himself. v 

* Cayley, vol. 1. pp. 163-1CT. 



DDDDLEY'S VOYAGE. 85 

Of the existence of gold in this part of South America, various voy- 
agers and travellers also speak. The gold ornaments seen by Columbus 
upon the Indians on the coast of Paria, have been mentioned ; and his 
biographer, Ferdinand Columbus, says he saw an Indian with a piece of 
gold, as large as an apple. Oviedo, in his account of the voyage of Ves- 
pucci, states, that as they sailed along the coast of Terra-Firma, they 
•observed, that all along from Margaritta to Cape de la Vela, the Indians 
bartered for gold and pearls. But a testimony more applicable to the 
subject, is that of Sir Robert Duddley, who made a voyage to Trinidad 
. in 1595 — the same year with Raleigh's expedition — whom I have before 
referred to, as a voyager deserving the utmost credit. 

" I learned of the savages, that the names of the kingdoms on the main 
over against us, were in order these : The kingdom of Morocca, Seea- 
wano, Waliane, Charibes, Yguire ; and right against the northern part of 
Trinidad, the main was called the highland of Paria. In Seeawano we 
heard of a mine of gold to be in a town called Wackerew. The king- 
dom of Iguire, (Igyuire,) I found to be full of metal, called by the Indians 
nearo, which is rather copper, or very base gold. But lastly, to come 
to Waliane, it is the first kingdom of the empire of Guyana. The great 
wealth which I understood to be therein, and the assurance that I had by 
an Indian, mine interpreter, of a golden mine in a town of this kingdom, 
called Orocoa, in the river of the Oronoke, was much to be esteemed, not 
in words alone ; but offered, upon pain of life, to be a guide himself to any 
place that he spoke of. I sent fourteen men in my boat with most of the 
discreetest men of my company. They found the main full of fresh 
rivers, the one entering into another. They entered into a small river, 
called Cabotas, the people named Veriotans — a courteous people. The 
next river they passed was named Mana, where the king offered to bring 
a canoe full of the golden ore ; and to this purpose sent a canoe which 
returned and brought me this answer, that Armago, captain of the mine, 
refused them ; but if they would come thither, he himself would make them 
answer. Upon this my boat went at his appointed place ; he met them 
with some 100 men in canoes, and told them, that by force they should 
have nothing but blows; yet, if they would bring him hatchets, knives, 
and jewsharps, he bid them assure me he had a mine of gold, and could 
refine it, and would trade with me ; in token whereof, he sent me three 
or four crescents or half-moons of gold, weighing a noble a-piece, or 
more."* 

But this subject has been fully elucidated by the recent investigations 
of Humboldt in Venezuela, who has shown that reports have always pre- 
vailed there of the existence of gold in various sections of it — that speci- 
mens of native gold have frequently been found there — that several 
attempts at mining have been made by the Spaniards, although it remains 
doubtful whether the ore exists there in sufficient quantity to justify ope- 
rations to obtain it. " Their attention," he observes, " was first directed 

* Hackluyt's Voyages. 



86 ELDORADO. 

to the western mountains of Venezuela ; and there they, at an early 
period, wrought the gold mine of Barquisemento. But these works, like 
many other mines successively opened, were soon abandoned. Here, as 
in all the mountains of Venezuela, the ore has been found to be very 
variable in its produce. The lodes are very often divided, or cease ; and 
the metals appear only in kidney-ores, and present the most delusive ap- 
pearances." Next to these and the works of Buria, those in the valley 
of Caraccas are the most remarkable. " An Indian of the Guykeries, 
having seen some bits of gold in the hands of the natives, succeeded in 
discovering, in 1560, the mines of Los Teques, to the southwest of Carac- 
cas, in the group of the mountains of Cocuimo, which separate the valleys 
of Caraccas and Aragua. It is thought that, in the first of these valleys, 
near Baruta, the natives had made some excavations in veins of aurife- 
rous quartz ; and that, when the Spaniards first settled there and founded 
the town of Caraccas, they filled the shafts which had been dug with 
water. It is now impossible to verify the fact. The mines of Los Te- 
ques could not be peaceably wrought till the defeat of the Cacique Guay- 
capuro, who so long contested with the Spaniards the possession of the 
province of Venezuela. In the mountains east of the valley of Caraccas, 
mining experiments have also been made. In these mountains the gneiss 
passes into a talckous state, and contains, among other minerals, lodes of 
auriferous quartz. The labors there, which were anciently begun, have 
often been abandoned and renewed." 

The mines of Caraccas remained forgotten for more than a h undred 
years. But toward the end of the last century, they were resumed by 
an Intendant of Venezuela, Don Jose Avalo. Some Mexican miners were 
procured : " The choice," says Humboldt, " was not fortunate. They 
could not distinguish a single rock ; everything appeared to them gold 
and silver. Their operations were directed toward the ravine of Tipe ; 
and the ancient mines of Baruta, "to the south of Caraccas, where the 
Indians gathered, even in my time, a little stream of gold. The zeal of 
the administration soon diminished ;• and after having incurred many 
useless expenses, the enterprise of the mines of Caraccas was totally 
abandoned. A small quantity of auriferous pyrites, sulphuretted silver, 
and a little native gold, had been found ; but they were feeble indications, 
— and in a country where labor is extremely dear, there was no induce- 
ment to pursue works so little productive."* 

On the subject, generally, of the existence of gold in this region, he 
gives the following opinion : " The rock of gneiss, passing into a granite 
of new formation, sometimes mica-slate, belongs, in Germany, to the 
most metalliferous rocks; but. in the new Continent, the granite has not 
been hitherto remarked as very rich in ores worth working. In several 
spots of the valley of Caraccas, the gneiss contains a small quantity of 
gold, disseminated in small veins of quartz, sulphuretted silver, azure, 

* Humboldt's Pers. Nar., ch. xiii. 



MINING IN CARACC AS. 87 

copper ore, and galena ; but it remains doubtful, whether these different 
metalliferous substances are not too poor to attempt working them."* 

The researches thus made by Humboldt, in Venezuela, do not, indeed, 
comprise the region visited by Raleigh, and to which his accounts relate, 
although in its immediate vicinity ; but if such is the character of the 
mountainous chain along the coast, including its branches north and west 
of the Oronoke, it may be reasonably supposed, that .Jhose which extend 
over that river into Guyana are of the same character ; especially, as it 
has been shown that the second chain of mountains of South America, or 
the Cordillera of Parima, presents similar appearances. On his return 
from his expedition up the Oronoke, he descended this river to Angustura, 
the capital of Spanish Guyana. The mineralogical examination he made 
there, was not as extensive as at Caraccas. The fatigue of a long journey 
through a wilderness region, probably, in some measure, prevented him. 

The following are all the remarks he makes on the subject : " It were 
to be wished, that here, as in the fine and fertile province of Venezuela, 
the inhabitants, faithful to the labor of the fields, would not addict them- 
selves too hastily to the search for mines. The example of Germany 
and Mexico prove, no doubt, that the working of metals is not at all in- 
compatible with a flourishing state of agriculture ; but, according to 
popular traditions, the banks of the Carony lead to the lake Dorado, and 
the palace of the gilded King ; and this lake, and this palace, being a local 
fable, it might be dangerous to awaken remembrances that begin gradu- 
ally to be effaced. I was assured, that in 1760, the independent Chari- 
bees went to Cerro de Pajarcaima, (a mountain to the south of Veia 
Guyana.) The gold-dust collected by their labor, was put into calebashes 
and sold to the Dutch at Essequibo. Still more recently, some Mexican 
miners, who abused the credulity of Don Jose de Avalo, the Intendant of 
Caraccas, undertook a very considerable work in the centre of the missions 
of the Rio Carony. They declared that the whole rock was auriferous ; 
stamping-mills, Irocards, and smelting furnaces were constructed. After 
having expended very large sums, it was discovered that the pyrites con- 
tained no trace whatever of gold. These essays, though fruitless, served 
to renew the ancient idea, " that every shining rock in Guyana, is una 
madre del oro." (These are the words of Raleigh.) f 

These remarks, though brief, are important. 1. Humboldt states, that 
popular traditions continued, to the time of his visit, to prevail in Spanish 
Guyana, that at the head of the Caroni was the lake Dorado, and the 
palace of the " gilded King," which is the very region where Raleigh 
places his lake Cassipa, and the city of Manoa — and the existence of which 
is confirmed by the map of De Pons, on which, made as late as 1805, 
he marks on his lake Parima, in a very distinct manner, the site of this 
city, or El Dorado. 2. The attempt made by the Mexican miners to 
search for gold in the centre of the missions of Caroni, shows that an 

* Humboldt's Pets. N«r., ch. xiii. ! t Humboldt's Pert. Nar., ch. ixiv 



S3 ELDORADO. 

opinion then existed that gold was to be found in the neighborhood of thai 

river, as Raleigh related. In his defence, it is not necessary to prove 

that it actually exists there in abundance. It is sufficient for the purpose 

to show, that there are appearances of it there, which have led others, 

like himself, into that belief. 3. The failure of the Mexican miners 

to find it in the particular spot where they sought for it, detracts nothing 

from his relation, as Humboldt states, that gold-dust has been obtained 

by the Charibees in that region, which they sold to the Dutch ; a fact 

which gives the highest degree of probability to the statement of Raleigh, 

that the ore he took with him to England from the Oronoke, was obtained 

by him there ; and not, as his enemies alleged, brought from other parts — 

particularly, from the additional remark of Humboldt, that the Charibees 

of the Essequibo, Caroni, and Cayuni, have been accustomed to wash 

the earth for gold from the remotest times ; — for it was with this nation 

with whom Raleigh chiefly had intercourse, and from whom he obtained 

his information of Guyana. In regard to the Charibees of the Essequibo, 

this remark of Humboldt corresponds with a fact I have mentioned, that 

in the middle of the last century, gold-dust was brought down that river 

and given to the Director-General of the Dutch colony upon it, who sent 

it to Holland. 

An examination has thus been made of the relations in the Narrative of 
Raleigh, which I proposed to consider ; and it has been shown that, as 
to the principal facts which he states, he is fully supported by contempo- 
rary and later travellers, and some local testimony ; but on which he 
suffered his imagination to form extravagant and erroneous ideas : in 
particular, that there is a large body of water in the interior of Guyana, 
which remains, probably, for more than half the year, called by the 
Charibees the White Sea ; which may, or may not be termed a lake — 
that it is salt, as stated by him, and confirmed by his associates, Keymis 
and Berrie, and that the Caroli, (or Caroni,) probably rises out of it ; 
that there is at present about it a great collection of remnants of Indian 
nations, rendering it probable, that the population formerly there was 
considerable, and that they had gold ornaments in abundance ; and the 
channel by which they might have obtained them, has been pointed out : 
that this settlement probably bore the name Raleigh gives it — Manoa, or 
Manao, from the Mahanaos, or Manaos, who still dwell upon it ; that the 
facts stated by Martinez, who first applied the appellation " El Dorado" 
to this place, do not necessarily imply a rich and magnificent city — but 
which idea, Raleigh too readily imbibed from the oft-repeated rumors 
among the Spaniards of such a city, and their repeated enterprises to 
discover it. In regard to the invasion of Guyana by one of the Incas of 
Peru, by whom he supposes Manoa, or the imperial city, was built — an 
idea which he founds upon the relations of the Charibee chief on the Oro- 
noke — it has also been shown, that there was, probably, in early times, a 
great influx of nations into Guyana, by the Rio Branco. from the Amazon : 
and, that it is not wholly improbable, a branch of the family of the Incas 



HUME'S CHARGES. 89 

may, on the invasion of Peru by the Spaniards, have fled from it, and 
retired into the interior of this country by the same route ; — especially 
from the remarkable fact stated by the Mariwin Inquirer, as related to 
him by a Charibee chief, that the chief of Manoa was called Pepo- 
dallapa, a name which, we can hardly doubt, was meant for Atabalipa. 
It has likewise been shown, in regard to the mineral treasures which 
Raleigh related to be in Guyana, that gold has actually been found in 
small parcels in various parts of it; and that in Venezuela, north of the 
Oronoke, and on the Essequibo, indications of the existence of this ore 
have led to several enterprises to discover it ; although the results of them, 
and the examination made by Humboldt, leave the question, whether 
there is a sufficient quantity of it in Venezuela or Guyana, to justify 
mining operations, undetermined. 

But, under the influence of political prejudices and an ignorance of the 
subject, some writers commenting on his relations respecting that country, 
have inveighed against him in a style of the severest censure, and endea- 
vored to throw the brilliant lustre of his great name into the darkest shade ; 
foremost among whom is Hume, who, in his history of England, has 
poured upon him the following unmeasured invective : 

" Raleigh's account of his first voyage to Guyana, proves him to have 
been a man capable of the most extravagant credulity, or the most impu- 
dent imposture. So ridiculous are the stories which he tells of the Incas' 
chimerical empire in the midst of Guyana, the rich city of El Dorado, 
or Manoa, two days' journey in length, abounding in gold and silver ; the 
old Peruvian prophecies in favor of the English, who, he says, were ex- 
pressly named as the deliverers of that country, long before any Euro- 
pean ever touched there ; the 'Amazons, or republic of women ; and in 
general, the vast and incredible riches of that country, where nobody, as 
yet, found any treasures. His whole Narrative is a proof that he was 
extremely defective, either in solid understanding, morals, or both." 

In regard to the heaviest charge against Sir Walter Raleigh, in this 
sweeping denunciation, " the most impudent imposture," the candid rea- 
der will not, I believe, hesitate, from the facts I have presented, completely 
to exonerate him ; and to admit that, however he may have suffered his 
mind to form visions of that country, under the influence of an ardent 
imagination, which were not substantially founded, that he was sincere 
and honest in what he stated ; and if anything further were necessary to 
prove this, it is, that after his first expedition to Guyana, his account of 
which was the ground of this invective, he made, the next and second year 
after, two other enterprises to it for the same object ; the last of which 
was prepared entirely at his own expense. Can it be reasonably supposed 
he would have invested his money in an undertaking, when he knew it 
would be thrown away, merely to amuse the public with an attractive 
novelty, or to gratify his vanity by appearing as the patronizer of a splen- 
did enterprise ? Or was he led, from want of occupation, into a Quixotic 
scheme, to employ the otherwise dormant energies of his mind ? But 



90 ELDORADO. 

Sir Walter Raleigh did not require to make distant voyages to foreign 
countries, to provide him with occupation, still less to engage in enterprises 
of a chimerical character, or at least of uncertain result for that purpose. 
He had resources within himself, which never failed. Had not this pro- 
ject, presenting itself to his mind in the most glowing colors, captivated 
and engrossed it, he would have found in the pursuits of literature suffi- 
cient to engage his attention, as in a future season of adversity he fully 
showed ; and had fame been his object, he would have had in this occupa- 
tion sufficient to gratify his utmost ambition. An insinuation has been 
made that, in forming this enterprise, he was influenced by interested 
motives ; from a wish to regain the favor of Queen Elizabeth, by flattering 
her with the prospect of a splendid acquisition. But this idea cannot 
stand the test of examination. It is admitted, that if he had merely 
drawn out a highly colored representation of the wealth of Guyana, with 
the plan of an enterprise to conquer it, without having taken any steps to 
advance it himself, or embarked any property in the undertaking ; such a 
suggestion, under the circumstances in which he was in regard to the 
court, might be made with some plausibility. But since he prepared not 
less than three expeditions for the purpose in as many successive years, 
— two of which were partly at his own expense, and the last entirely so, 
and one of which he accompanied himself — although the hope of reinstat- 
ing himself in his sovereign's good graces might have encouraged him 
in the undertaking, his conduct furnishes the best possible evidence of his 
sincerity in the representations he made. Would these several expedi- 
tions have been made by him when he was aware, that after wasting his 
time and property, he would be certain to meet, not the smiles, but the 
frowns of his sovereign ? — not the applause of the public, but its jeers and 
ridicule % The unsuccessful result of the first, after which he was refused 
by the Queen admittance to her court, and the public received his 
accounts with incredulity, was sufficient to dispel from his mind a pro- 
ject — not merely if it had been founded on very slight grounds, but even 
had he not entertained the most sanguine hopes of its success. 

But it may be inquired, if Raleigh sincerely believed the mineral riches 
of Guyana were such as he depicted, why he did not, on his first expedi- 
tion, remain to prosecute the discovery of it. To this inquiry, which he 
anticipated, he gives the following answer. He states that the Charibee 
chief, on the Oronoke, from whom he obtained his information of that 
country, informed him that the Epuremei, the principal nation in the inte- 
rior, and whom it was necessary to subdue, were too powerful for him to 
attempt it with the force he had ; that on being asked if he should not be 
able to take "the first town of the civil and apparelled people," the chief 
answered in the affirmative ; and that he would himself accompany him, 
with all the borderers, if the rivers were fordable, and he left behind fifty 
men to protect his people against the Epuremei, who would, after they 
left, invade them, in consequence of their furnishing guides to him ; and 
being informed by Raleigh that it was not in his power to spare that num- 



RALEIGH AND TOPIAWARI. 91 

ber, he begged him to defer the enterprise to the next year, when the 
rivers would be fordable. These reasons being taken by Raleigh into 
serious consideration, and reflecting that an unsuccessful attempt at that 
time would injure his success hereafter, by rendering the Indians in the 
interior hostile to the English, as they were then to the Spaniards, seeing 
that they came for the same object, to sack and plunder — he concluded to 
defer the enterprise to another year ; and after making an alliance with 
this chief, and giving him a promise to return at that time, proceeded to 
England.* 

" This Cacique," says Raleigh, " is held for the proudest and wisest of all 
the Oronokoponi ; and he so behaved himself toward me in all his answers, 
as I marvelled to find a man of that gravity and sound judgment, and of so 
good discourse, that had no help of learning or breed." f 

That Sir Walter Raleigh made such a promise to this chief, is proved, 
not only by his actually sending out the next year another expedition to the 
Oronoke — being prevented by his public engagements himself accompa- 
nying it — but by accounts which voyagers, who sailed to the coast of 
Guyana some years after, gave of the inquiries the Charibees made of 
them respecting him, and their disappointment at his not fulfilling his 
promise. In the account of the voyage by Charles Leigh to the river 
Oyapoke, in Cayenne, in 1604, (nine years after) he observes, the Ga- 
libis, or Charibees, (who inhabit there) often asked him of Sir Walter 
Raleigh ; and that one came from the Oronoke expressly to inquire respect- 
ing him, alleging the promise he made of his return, f 

Robert Harcourt, who made a voyage to the same river in 1608, states, 
that the chief upon it, with Avhom he made a treaty, said that he remem- 
bered the arrival of Raleigh on the Oronoke, and the submission of the 
Charibees to his sovereign ; and that he had made a promise to return — 
for his not fulfilling which, says Harcourt, I excused him, by reason of 
his employments of great importance at home, and observed, that when he 
found he could not return, he had sent Captain Keymis in his place to 
visit them. § And the Mariwin Inquirer, the associate of Harcourt, re- 
lates, that the ancient Indian, who gave him an account of Manoa, &c, 
and was from the Oronoke, «airl that Topiawari, the Charibee chief on that 
river with whom Raleigh made an alliance, " wondered that he had not heard 
from him according to his promise, and that he thought the Spaniards had 
slain him ; and that Topiawari had drawn in several nations under two 
chiefs, Wanaritone, captain of Canuria, and Wacariopea, captain of Say- 
ma, against Raleigh's coming, to have made war against the Epuremei, 
and that these chiefs were still expecting him."|| 

Dr. Bancroft, in his history of Guyana, published in 1766, says, that 
the Charibees of Guyana at that time — which was one hundred and seven- 
ty-one years after Raleigh's first voyage — retained a tradition of an Eng- 

*_Cayley, vol. 1, pp. 252-258. t Cayley, vol. 1, p. 240. 

t Paichas's Region and Religion of the World. § Purchas's Coll. of Voyages, Book vi. ch. xvi. 

|| Appendix, No. 1. 



92 EL DORADO. 

lish chief, who, many years since, traded with thenl and encouraged them 
to persevere in enmity to the Spaniards ; promising to return and settle 
amono- them, and afford them assistance. It is said they still preserve an 
English Jack, which he left with them to distinguish his countrymen. 
This, adds Bancroft, could be no other than Sir Walter Raleigh. 

It is undoubted, that a warm and brilliant imagination, animated by the 
fire of a poetical genius, which threw the brightest colors on objects that 
presented a favorable aspect to him, was a conspicuous trait in the mind 
of Sir Walter Raleigh. But this, so far from being extraordinary in the 
pursuit of distant and hazardous undertakings, the possession of this facul- 
ty seems to be necessary to the success of any enterprise. Under the in- 
fluence of imagination, distant objects may be sometimes pursued that are 
airy phantoms ; but without it.no pursuit of what is difficult and uncertain 
would ever be attempted. It is the breeze that impels a ship on a voyage, 
and although it may sometimes drive it on shoals or rocks, without its in- 
fluence the gallant vessel would remain motionless on shore. When an 
object is pursued with the hope of success, it is presented by the imagina- 
tion in such bright and attractive colors, as to produce an ardor and a pas- 
sion of the mind to obtain it, which overlooks all obstacles, or gives an 
energy to surmount them. But when viewed through the medium of 
sober calculation, and the dangers and hazards attending its pursuit, as 
well as the advantages expected from it, coolly weighed, doubt and inde- 
cision follow ; delay arises ; the novelty, which added much to its charms, 
wears away, until that which was once anxiously desired is viewed with 
indifference, as too difficult to be obtained, or if obtained, not worth the 
pursuit. Would Columbus have fostered the bold and magnificent idea 
of crossing the broad Ocean, Avhich washes the shores of Europe, whose 
extent no one knew or could divine, with the expectation of finding a new 
world beyond it, had he calmly considered all the difficulties and hazards 
to be met with in the execution of the project, and deliberately weighed 
all the arguments in favor of and against his success ? But his mind, 
susceptible of grand conceptions and bold resolutions, when the idea was 
presented to it, it struck into a congenial soil ; and as hew armed with the 
contemplation of it, an enthusiasm in the pursuit was produced which no 
difficulties could damp. 

Such was the case Avith Sir Walter Raleigh. The accounts which he 
had read of El Dorado and the wealth of Guyana, had for years been 
the subjects of his thoughts ; presenting to him a brilliant project, suitable 
to his enterprising genius to achieve ; and in some of its features corres- 
ponding with the imaginative poetical cast of his mind, it took complete 
possession of it, and inspired him with an irresistible ardor to undertake 
it. Had he stopped to reason on the subject — to balance arguments on 
the one side and the other — a host of objections would have started up 
before him. The country he proposed to explore, was wholly unknown. 
It had never even been at all entered by European footsteps, except by 
by the individual Juan Martinez, who first gave the account of " the rich 



UNJUST CENSURE. 93 

and magnificent city," which certainly required confirmation. This 
famed city had been sought, too, for a long time, by adventurers in vari- 
ous directions — by Belalcazar and Pizarro, from Peru across the Andes ; 
Philip de Urra, southwardly from Venezuela; Orellana and Orsua } 
down the Amazon — the whole length of it to the Ocean — and numerous 
others, without giving any information of a city discovered by them at all 
corresponding to the description of the one they sought, excepting Urra, 
whose narrative was generally considered too marvellous to be credited. 
Then Guyana, through its whole extent, was covered with almost imper- 
vious forests ; the Indians inhabiting it reported to be of the most ferocious 
character, and some even cannibals. The Spaniards, besides, were desi- 
rous of acquiring this region, and his attempt to conquer it would meet 
with their opposition. j 

But his mind, illumined by a fervid imagination, saw another prospect. 
The whole of Guyana, extending from the Amazon to the Oronoke, it is 
true, was wholly unknown. But for that reason, it might be desirable to 
examine it for this rumored Golden City. The disappointment of the 
numerous adventurers, who went on toilsome expeditions in search of it, 
ought not to deter. Their persevering pursuit of it, evinces their full 
conviction of its reality, and they sought for it, perhaps, in a wrong direc- 
tion ; and it may be found in the region now pointed out as its locality, 
yet unexplored. If the Spaniards, in their conquests in South America, 
found rich cities inhabited by the natives, abounding in gold, on the west 
of the Andes — may there not be such, at least one, discovered east of this 
chain toward the Atlantic ? The rough state of the country, and the ter- 
ror the native tribes inspired, were not sufficient to daunt him. The shores 
of North America had been examined and colonized under his direction, 
and the colonists sent there were not repulsed or ill-used by the inhabit- 
ants, but met from them, invariably, a welcome reception. The oppo- 
sition of the Spaniards caused him no apprehension. The country was 
yet unpossessed by Europeans — the field was open — he would endeavor 
to discover and possess it ; and if he succeeded in his attempt, would 
maintain it against them. 

And, in the censures which some historians have passed upon him, it 
seems to have been entirely overlooked, that he is not the only one who 
was led away by the delusive idea of " the Golden City j" but that num. 
bers before him, men of the first rank in Peru and New Grenada, brave 
military leaders and distinguished viceroys, enthusiastically followed the 
pursuit of it. If they should not only have yielded to the belief of it, 
but hazarded their lives and fortunes to discover it — fitting out the most 
expensive expeditions, which, says Mr. Southey, have cost Spain more 
than all the treasures she has received from her possessions in America — 
it is surprising that so great a want of candor should have been shown to 
an English hero, whose chivalric courage and enterprising genius were ex- 
cited by the same dazzling prospect. 



94 ELDORADO. 

And even after his voyages to Guyana, although the ardor in search 
of EI Dorado greatly diminished, and no expeditions by any numerous 
bands of colonists have been made, yet solitary enterprises have been 
undertaken and encouraged by Governors of the Spanish provinces, even 
to the latest period. "At Cuenza, in the kingdom of Quito," observes Hum* 
boldt, " I met with some men who were employed by the Bishop of Marfil, 
to seek at the east of the Cordilleras, in the plains of Macas, the ruins 
of the town of Logrono, which was believed to be situated in a country 
rich in gold. We learn by the journal of Hortsman, that it was supposed 
in 1740, Dorado might be readied from Dutch Guyana, by going up the Rio 
Essequibo. Don Manuel Centurion, the Governor of Angustura, dis- 
played an extreme ardor for reaching the imaginary lake of Manoa. An 
Indian of the nation of the Ipurucutoes, went down the Rio Carony, and 

by false narratives inflamed the imagination of the Spanish colonists 

Another Indian chief, known among the Charibees of Essequibo by the 
name of Captain Juraddo, vainly attempted to undeceive the Governor. 
Fruitless attempts were made by the Caura and the Rio Paragua, and 
several hundred persons perished miserably in their rash enterprises, from 
Avhich, however, geography has derived some advantages. Nicholas 
Rodriguez and Antonio Santos were employed by the Governor."* Santos 
is the individual who has before been spoken of, as one of the four instan- 
ces of travellers who came near the supposed site of lake Parima, of 
whose journal Humboldt had a perusal ; and who went up the Caroni and 
the Paragua, one of its branches, then crossed the Cordillera of Parima, 
and came to St. Rosa, on the Uaripara, a tributary of the western branch 
of the Branco, from which he passed down the Branco into the Amazon 
and to the Brazils. De Pons, in his ' History of Caraccas, 5 gives some 
further particulars in regard to this adventure. " When the wild Indian 
appeared before the Governor of Spanish Guyana, he was assailed with 
questions, which he answered with as much perspicuity and precision as 
could be expected from one whose most intelligible language consisted in 
signs. He, however, succeeded in making them understand that there 
was, on the banks of lake Parima, a city, whose inhabitants were civilized 
and regularly disciplined to war. He boasted a groat deal of the beauty 
of its buildings, the neatness of its streets, the regularity of^its squares, 
and the riches of its people. According to him, the roofs of its principal 
houses were either of gold or silver. The high-priest, instead of pontifi- 
cal robes, rubbed his whole body with the fat of the turtle ; then they 
blew upon it some gold-dust, so as to cover his whole body with it. In 
this attire, he performed the religious ceremonies. The Indian sketched 
on a table, with a bit of charcoal, the city of which he had given a 
description. His ingenuity seduced the Governor. He asked him to 
serve as a guide to some Spaniards he wished to send on this discovery, 
to which the Indian consented. Six Spaniards oifered themselves for this 
undertaking, and among others, Don Antonio Santos. They setoff and 

* Humboldt's Pep. Nar.. ch. stir. 



RALEIGH AND ESSEX. 95 

travelled nearly five hundred leagues to the south, through the moat 
frightful roads. Hunger, the swamps, the woods, the precipices, the 
heats, the rains, destroyed almost all. When those who survived thought 
themselves four or five days' journey from the capital city, and hoped to 
reach the end of all their troubles and the object of their desires, the 
Indian disappeared in the night. This event dismayed the Spaniards. 
They knew not where they were. By degrees, they all perished but 
Santos, to whom it occurred to disguise himself as an Indian. He threw 
off his clothes, covered his whole body with red paint, and introduced 
himself among them by his knowledge of many of their languages. He 
was a long time among them, until, at length, he fell into the power of 
the Portuguese established on the banks of the Rio Negro. They em- 
barked him on the river Amazon, and after a very long detention, sent 
him back to his country."* 

But in addition to the proofs which I have given, of the sincere belief 
of Sir Walter Raleigh in the representations he made of the wealth of 
Guyana at least — for I do not know how much longer the idea of El Do- 
rado possessed his mind after the three expeditions which he made to this, 
region, which have been related — there is the further strongest evidence 
in the fact, that the conquest and possession of this countxy continued 
afterward to be prosecuted by him with undiminished ardor ; although diffi- 
culties, in which he became involved at home, from the jealousy and 
rival ship of contemporary statesmen, the buddings of which had appeared 
some time before, threw obstacles in his way. Indications of the opposi- 
tion to him of the Earl of Essex appeared, as has been mentioned, some time 
before, in the expedition against the city of Cadiz, in which Raleigh was 
engaged, under him. The leaders of this expedition, found a very gra- 
cious reception from the Queen on their return ; but Essex was dissatis- 
fied that more had not been done ; and, to add to his mortification, found 
that Sir Robert Cecil had acquired a predominant influence with her, and 
been appointed Secretary of State. They thus became rivals and ene- 
mies, and headed two powerful factions, which divided the court, and 
contended for the supreme direction of affairs.f Raleigh was subse- 
quently employed in various naval expeditions under Essex, and in the 
course of them, the animosity of the minister to him again disclosed itself. 
The danger to him, however, from this circumstance, began to be less, as 
he was then in the favor of the Queen, and on good terms with Cecil ; 
and the influence of Essex at the court was on the decline. Various 
causes contributed to foment the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth against 
him ; and Essex, at length seeing her fixed dislike, and the hopelessness 
of all efforts to regain her favor, set on foot those acts for the overthrow 
of her government, which cost him his life. He had, in the mean time, 
been courting the friendship of King James of Scotland, who looked to 
the succession to the throne of England ; and in his correspondence, his 
own enemies were represented to James, as enemies to his succession ; 

* Cayley. vol. 2. p. 301-306. t Hist, of Caraccas, vol. 3. p. 387. 



96 ELDORADO. 

among whom, Raleigh would naturally be included — and, with great ap- 
pearance of probability, Essex may be called the first planter of a preju- 
dice in the mind of James against him. 

With the death of Queen Elizabeth, the good fortunes of Raleigh 
sank to rise no more. No sooner was the blow struck against Essex, 
than Raleigh found another rival appearing against him at the court. 
Cecil, as well as Essex, found it prudent, during the life of Elizabeth, to 
cultivate the favor of James, who was likely soon to become his sovereign. 
He commenced a secret correspondence with him, and in some of the let- 
ters, which have been published, he speaks of Raleigh in terms of strong 
disaffection. The cause of his opposition is but little known ; but it is 
probable, that after the fall of Essex, their friendship terminated in a ri- 
valship for power. 

On the accession of James, the prepossessions thus early instilled in his 
mind against Raleigh, were increased by other causes. Raleigh appears 
to have been among those, who, in regard to the known feud between 
England and Scotland, had a desire that he might be bound by articles ; 
and his enterprising and martial character was little agreeable to James. 

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that he received neglect 
at court. The tide of prejudice ran strong against him ; and no thought 
or action of his life, was any longer innocent. Three months had not 
elapsed, before he was charged with treasonable practices against the 
government.* He was, it appears, at that time on terms of intimacy 
with Lord Cobham ; who, being also out of favor at court, was engaged in 
various schemes to revenge himself against it. Among others, he had an 
intercourse with persons concerned in a Popish plot, and this treason be- 
ing discovered, he became suspected. In consequence of Raleigh's inti- 
macy with him, doubts also arose in regard to him. Upon this, they 
were all apprehended. The leading conspirators were first tried, con- 
demned, and suffered the penalty of the law. Sir Walter Raleigh was 
then, on the seventeenth of November, 1603, tried ; and by the influ- 
ence of the court, and the vehement, abusive eloquence of the Attorney 
General, Sir Edward Coke, without any color of evidence, was convicted 
of high treason. f But the King did not sign the warrant for his execu- 
tion. He was committed to the Tower, with the sword hanging over his 
head, to suffer under the constant apprehension of the execution of the 
sentence, or with the alternative of an indefinite, perhaps, perpetual im- 
prisonment. In his confinement, however, he was allowed various privi- 
leges; and he had many friends and pityers in his adverse fortune, 
among whom were the Queen, and the celebrated Henry, Prince of Wales. 
An attachment of peculiar strength appears to have subsisted between 
Prince Henry and him. " No king but my father would keep such a bird 
in a cage," was a remark of his. His death, in his nineteenth year, was 
a loss to Raleigh, of the widest extent imaginable ; as well from the real 
esteem which he manifested for his character, as from the future prospects 

* Cwley.vol, }. PP. 352-358. t Campbell's Lives of the Admirab 



RALEIGH IN PRISON. 97 

which the Prince's patronage afforded him. The death of Cecil, six months 
before, had inspired him with the hopes of obtaining his freedom ; as, in 
the Earl of Somerset, who succeeded him, he had a steady friend, which 
would naturally be much discouraged by the latter event, but were en- 
tirely dispelled by this minister's falling into disgrace. Villiers then 
became the favorite ; and, by this event, Raleigh effected by money, 
what the most powerful patronage could not accomplish. Fifteen hundred, 
pounds, given to two friends of the minister, procured their influence with 
him, and the King's consent to his enlargement ; and thus, on the seven- 
teenth of March, 1616, after an imprisonment of more than twelve years' 
duration, Sir Walter Raleigh at length obtained his freedom.* 

During his long confinement, it may naturally be supposed, he did not 
suffer his brilliant talents to be unemployed and wasted in unavailing 
repinings, or sullen indolence. The frowns of a monarch, or the gloom 
of a prison, were unable to repress the activity of his ardent and vigorous- 
intellect. The pursuit of literature and science in various departments, 
was his constant employment; and his efforts in which, have made him. 
as distinguished as his daring enterprises on sea or land. " The advan- 
tages of a cultivated understanding," says Mr. Cayley, " have, perhaps, 
seldom been more truly recognized, than they were at this time, by Sir- 
Walter Raleigh, in alleviating confinement, and supporting the endless 
diversity of fortune. The disposition he made of his time, discovered in 
this, not less than on other occasions, the superiority of his mind ; for, in 
the calm contemplation of his intellectual talents, he found the resource 
of all others best adapted to relieve his situation, and which a superior 
mind could alone advert to. His History of the World, and many of his 
political pieces, were composed in the Tower ; and much of his time was 
amused with chemical pursuits, to which he appears to have had a strong 
partiality." f 

As one of the most elegant writers of England observes : 

" His vigor sunk not, when a coward reign 
The warrior fettered : 

Then active still, and unrestrained, his mind 
Explored the vast extent of ages past, 
And with his prison hours enriched the world." 

* Cayley, vol. 2. pp. 47-56. f Cayley, vol, 3. p. 46. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HIS LIBERATION FROM IMPRISONMENT. — PREPARES ANOTHER (HIS FOURTH) 

EXPEDITION TO GUYANA — UNFORTUNATE FAILURE OF IT HIS RETURN 

HOME GREAT DISPLEASURE OF THE KING AGAINST HIM HIS TRAGICAL 

END CONSEQUENCES OF HIS VOYAGES TO THAT COUNTRY COLONIES SENT 

TO IT FROM ENGLAND SKETCH OF THE SETTLEMENTS MADE IN IT BY 

OTHER NATIONS. 

It may also be readily conceived, that, to the enterprising mind of Sir 
Walter Raleigh, while in confinement — entertaining, as he no doubt 
would, the hope that the efforts he was continually making for his libera- 
tion would be successful — the field of future action would, amid his 
studies, present itself; especially, the favorite scheme which he had for 
years before pursued with persevering ardor — the conquest of Guayana. 
I have remarked that, although, after the third expedition made by him 
to that country, the difficulties, in which he became involved at home, 
caused impediments to the attainment of his object, they were little able 
to relax his ardor in the pursuit of it- How great were the distresses 
and troubles into which he was plunged, has just been shown. But, that 
amid them all, this enterprise, in which he had formerly so enthusiasti- 
cally embarked, was not forgotten, is seen by the following passage from 
Dr. Campbell's ' Lives of the Admirals.' 

" Among the subjects which occupied his mind, a prominent one was 
his old scheme of settling Guyana ; a scheme worthy of him, and which, 
as he first discovered, so he constantly prosecuted. We have seen how 
many voyages he encouraged during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when, 
considering the many great employments he engaged in, one would have 
thought his mind might have been otherwise occupied ; and so it must have 
been, if he had not been thoroughly persuaded, and that upon the best evi- 
dence in the world, his own eyesight and judgment, that this was the richest 
country in the world, and the worthiest of being settled for the benefit of 
Britain. This persuasion was so strong upon him, that, during his confine- 
ment, he held a constant intercourse with Guyana ; sending, at his own 
charge, every year, or every second year, a ship to keep the Indians in 
hopes of his performing the promise he made them, of coming to their 
assistance and delivering them from the tyranny and cruelty of the Span- 
iards, who now encroached upon them again. In these ships were brough* 
out several of the natives of that country, with whom Sir Walter con 
versed in the Tower." 



RALEIGH'S LAST EXPEDITION. 99 

Two years before his liberation, he offered to the court a scheme for 
the settlement of it, but on which nothing could be done, as he was not 
yet able to obtain his discharge. But soon after he was liberated, viz : 
on the twenty-sixth August of that year, he obtained a royal commission to 
undertake it at his own expense, with the most ample grant of powers;* 
and as soon as he received it, he made preparations for procuring funds 
for a new expedition to that region. Circumstances favored the under- 
taking. A new and bright prospect opened to him, and his mind was 
elated with the almost certain expectation, of at length realizing the 
object of which he had so long been in pursuit. The opinion of the pub- 
lic, in regard to him, was altered, and this enterprise received from it 
greater attention and encouragement than his former ones. Co-adven- 
iurers likewise were obtained, among whom were some foreigners, f 

Hume, who, of all his censurers, has inveighed most bitterly against 
him, makes the following remarks on this period of his life : " The sen- 
timents of the nation were much changed in regard to him. Men had 
leisure to reflect on the hardship, not to say injustice, of his sentence ; 
they pitied his active and enterprising spirit, which languished in the 
rigors of confinement ; they were stuck with the extensive genius of the 
man, who, being educated amid naval and military enterprises, had sur- 
passed, in the pursuits of literature, even those of the most recluse and 
sedentary lives ; and they admired his unbroken magnanimity, which, at 
his age, and under his circumstances, could engage him to undertake and 
execute so great a work as the History of the World." 

Sir Walter Raleigh, with the means which he and his associates pro- 
vided, equipped a fleet of eight vessels, of which one was built at his 
own charge, and he accompanied in her as captain. There were also on 
board of her two hundred men, of which eighty were '•' gentlemen vol- 
unteers ;" and adventurers, many of them his relations, which number 
was afterward increased. Of the other vessels, most of them were of a 
smaller size, as tenders. 

On the twenty-eighth May, 1617, twenty-two years after the jirst expedi- 
tion made by him for the same object, the fleet had dropped down the Thames. 
Stress of weather obliged him to put into Cork, and it was late in August 
before he could proceed. He arrived on the coast of Guyana, at the river 
Cayenne, twelfth November, 1617, a district inhabited by the Charibee 
Indians, belonging to the same nation with those on the Oronoke, with 
whom, on his first arrival, in 1595, he made an amicable alliance ; 
and long as had been the period of his absence, he found their friendly 
sentiments to him were not in the least diminished. In a letter which he 
wrote to Lady R,aleigh from this place, he says : " To tell you that I viight 
be here King of the Indians, were a vanity. But my name h*th still 
lived among them here. They feed me with all that the ccuj^ry yields. 
All oner to obey me.'" 

* Campbell's Lives of the Admirals. t Cayley, vcO. 2. PP. 6&-61, 

7* 



100 ELDORADO. 

But the prospect of a favorable result to this expedition, which this 
welcome reception by the Charibees was calculated to inspire, was soon 
dispelled. Disastrous events commenced, which dissipated all his cher- 
ished hopes, and led to consequences which finally entirely overwhelmed 
him. His illness, in the course of the voyage, which was not extraor- 
dinary after his close confinement in the walls of a prison for thirteen 
years, rendering him little prepared to encounter a change of climate, the 
sea air, and other inconveniences of a voyage, laid the foundation for the 
unfortunate events that subsequently happened. He remained at Cayenne 
river until the fourth December, having been dangerously ill for six weeks 
— when, not Wishing to incur any longer delay in prosecuting the expe- 
dition, and being unable himself to accompany it, he gave orders to five 
small vessels, each of which to have a company of fifty men, to sail to 
the Oronoke, under the direction of Captain Keymis, his trusty associate, 
who had commanded the second expedition made by him to this river, in 
1596. Keymis proceeded up the Oronoke with the vessels intrusted to 
his charge, (the other ships remaining at Trinidad,) to accomplish the 
object of the expedition. He was absent above two months ; and on his 
return, gave Raleigh the unwelcome and most unexpected intelligence 
of the total failure of the enterprise, accompanied with the afflicting 
account of the death of his son. He related, that the Spaniards had a 
settlement or town on the river, two miles below the mine ; that he intended. 
to proceed at once to the mine, but, from the lowness of the river, he could 
not aproach to it nearer than a mile ; when he landed his companies, in- 
tending to remain on the bank of the river until the next day, when they 
were set upon in the night and charged by the Spaniards. To repel this 
force, they charged back, and following the Spaniards in their retreat, 
entered the town, of which they took possession, and drove them to the 
woods ; in which assault young Raleigh was killed. The town being 
thus possessed, he prepared to discover the mine, and went to it in a shal- 
lop with eight men. But on approaching near the bank where he intended 
to land, he received from the woods a volley of shot, which slew two of 
the company, and wounded others. 

He made no further attempts to reach the mine, and returned with his 
vessels to Trinidad. For not proceeding to it and making further dis- 
coveries, he gave as excuses to Raleigh, the death of his son, and his fear 
that he was himself dead, or, that the news of his son would hasten his 
end : to which he added, that the Spaniards being in the woods between 
the mine and the town, it was impossible to reach the mine unless they 
had been driven out ; for which they had no men, as the greater part of the 
thre/} companies guarded the town against the daily and nightly alarms, 
with vhich they were troubled ; that it was also impossible to keep any 
companies at the mine, for want of provisions from the town, which they 
were not abn to carry up the mountains. The following circumstance 
is mentioned by Raleigh, in one of his letters, as having had, also, weight 



ITS FAILURE. 191 

in inducing him to give up the enterprise. Letters from the King of Spain 
were intercepted by him, containing an order for strengthening the 
Spaniards on the Oronoke, with one hundred and fifty soldiers, who were 
to have descended the river from New- Grenada ; and one hundred and 
fifty to have come up it, from the island of Porto Rico, with ten pieces of 
ordnance ; the arrival of which he was hourly apprehensive of, and by 
which he might have been inclosed. 

Birch, in his Life of Raleigh, gives the following account of the cause 
of the failure of this expedition : " The five ships found a new Spanish 
town, called St. Thomas, consisting of about one hundred and forty houses, 
though lightly built — with a convent, a chapel of Franciscan friars, and 
a garrison, erected on the main channel of the Oronoke, about twenty 
miles distant from the place where Antonio Berreo attempted to plant. 
Keymis and the rest thought themselves obliged, through fear of havino- 
the enemy's garrison between them and their boats, to deviate from their 
instructions — which enjoined them, first to carry a little party to make 
trial of the mine, under shelter of their camp • and then to deal with the 
Spanish town as it should behave toward them. They determined, there- 
fore, to land in one body, and encamp between the mine and the town ; 
by which means, though themselves were the stronger, their boats were 
exposed, and the mine left untried, contrary to Raleigh's orders. For, 
about three weeks after their departure, landing by night nearer the town 
than they suspected, and intending to rest themselves on the river's side 
till morning, they were, in the night-time, set upon by the Spanish troops, 
— apprised of, and forewarned of their coming."* 

But whatever were the causes which produced a failure of the expedi- 
tion, the intelligence of it, communicated to Raleigh, overwhelmed him. 
The letters and dispatches which he wrote to England, at this time, are 
in the strain of a heart-broken man, and bear the strongest internal evi- 
dence of the sincerity of his intentions, in planning the enterprise, and 
his confident expectations of obtaining the great results from it which he 
held forth. And, certainly, abundant cause existed for his deep dejection. 
After having resolved on this project more than twenty years — even du- 
ring his long imprisonment, maturing plans for its accomplishment — 
when his freedom at length obtained, embarking all his property, he suc- 
ceeded in preparing another expedition for the purpose ; seeing the fleet 
which he equipped, safely cross the ocean, and touch the shores of the 
country, to him so full of bright anticipations ; and now, when about to 
seize the prize on which his eyes had so long rested — to behold all his 
hopes suddenly blasted — this last attempt made by him to effect his long 
cherished object, frustrated, probably, never again to be resumed — in 
addition, his son killed, and himself lingering under disease ; this calami- 
tous reverse was sufficient to depress, with gloom and melancholy, even 
his buoyant and gallant spirit, v/hich had, through life, borne itself above 
every difficulty and adversity. 

* Birch's Life of Raleigh, pp. 76-77. 



102 EL DORADO. 

After he had heard the relation of Keymis, he told him that he had 
undone him, and ruined his credit with the King past recovery. Keymis 
himself, deeply mortified at the result, solicited Raleigh to write a letter 
to England, in his own name, presenting the excuses he offered for his 
failure ; which being declined, he withdrew, and soon after, on going to 
his cabin, was found dead, having shot himself with a pistol.* 

Raleigh, knowing the enemies he had at home — that the King himself 
was his determined foe, and that the relenting of his resentment was pro- 
duced only by the expectations he formed from this expedition ; and re- 
collecting what efforts had been made to discredit all his former enterpri- 
ses, having the same object — looked forward to his return to England, 
bearing the news of the failure of the present, with the most fearful ap- 
prehensions of the disastrous consequences to him. And they were most 
fully verified. 

On the return of the fleet to England, which was probably about May, 
1618, he encountered a burst of public censure, as a gross deceiver and 
pretender ; who, to procure his liberation, had held out the prospect of a 
gold mine in Guyana, which was a mere chimera, an imaginary thing — 
and experienced a most decided manifestation of the royal displeasure. 
His co-adventurers, disappointed in their expectations, contributed to in- 
crease the public displeasure against him. They concluded that they 
were deceived by him ; that he had never known of any such mine as 
he pretended to go in search of; that his intention had ever been to plun- 
der the Spanish town, St. Thomas, and having encouraged his company 
with the spoils of that place, to have thence proceeded to the invasion of other 
Spanish settlements in South America, and that he expected to repair his 
ruined fortunes by such daring enterprises.! 

To all these charges, Raleigh, in his apology, thus forcibly and feel- 
ingly replies : " If they (his co-adventurers,) could not force Keymis to 
go to the mine, when he was, by his own confession, within two days' 
march of it — to examine where the two ingots of gold which they brought 
in, were taken, which they found laid by for the King of Spain's fifth part, 
or the small pieces of silver which had the same marks or stamps — if 
they refused to send any one of the fleet into the country to see the mines 
which the Cacique Carapana offered them — I say there is no reason to 
lay it to my charge, that I carried them with a pretence of gold, when 
neither Keymis nor myself knew of any in those parts. If it had been 
to have gotten my liberty, why did I not keep my liberty when I had it ? 
Nay, why did I put my life in manifest peril to forego it ? If I had had 
a purpose to have turned pirate, why did I oppose myself against the 
greatest number of my company, and was thereby in danger to be 
slain, or cast into the sea, because I refused it ? 

" A strange fancy had it been in me, to have persuaded my own son. 
whom I have lost, and to have persuaded my wife to have adventured the 
eight thousand pounds, which his majesty gave them for Sherborne, and 

* Cayley's Life of Raleish, oh. via, t Hume's Hist. England, vol, 5. p. U3. 



HOSTILITY OF GONDOMAR. 103 

when that was spent, to persuade my wife to sell her house at Mitcham, 
in hope of enriching them by the mines of Guyana, if I myself had not 
seen them with my own eyes ? For being old and weakly, thirteen years 
in prison, and not used to the air, to travel and to watching — it being ten 
to one that I should ever have returned— and of which, by reason of my 
violent sickness, and the long continuance thereof, no man had any hope, 
what madness would have made me undertake the journey, but the 
assurance of this mine ? — thereby, to have done his majesty service, to 
have bettered my country by the trade, and to have restored my wife 
and children to the estate they had lost, for which I have refused all other 
ways and means. For that I had no purpose to have changed my master 
and country, my return in the state I did return, may satisfy every honest 
and indifferent man."* / 

The relation of the events which befell Sir Walter Raleigh, connected 
with his expeditions to Guyana, which has thus far been given, is sufficient 
for the purpose for which it was made — the exculpation of this distin- 
guished man from the charge of deception, in the representations he 
made of that country. No candid person who reads the narrative of the 
measures taken by him in regard to the acquisition of it, through a long 
course of years ; the strong possession the project took of his mind, and 
the sacrifices he made for the purpose ; but must be convinced that, 
— however he may, through the influence of a warm imagination and en- 
thusiastic temper, have been deluded into the belief of the existence ot 
great mineral treasures in Guyana, which a better knowledge of the 
country has shown to be without foundation — he fully believed in the 
representations he made, and did not impose upon the world a fabri- 
cation of his own ; and, particularly, this last enterprise undertaken by 
him, for this object, under the peculiar circumstances in which it was 
made, and after such a lapse of time, ought to be sufficient to demon- 
strate the charge of deception and imposture made against him, to be 
entirely unfounded. 

But although in regard to the vindication of Sir Walter Raleigh, I might 
here close my remarks ; yet, as his last expedition to Guyana, which has 
just been related, was the cause of his melancholy fate, it will not, I 
think, be uninteresting to the reader, briefly to relate the events that sub- 
sequently befell him. 

The dissatisfaction of the King with him at the failure of his expedition, 
was increased by his collision with the Spaniards, who had established 
themselves on the Oronoke, prompted by Gondomar, the Spanish minister. 
This envoy, it was believed, had acquired considerable influence over him, 
and having looked upon Raleigh's former voyages with uneasiness, and 
carefully watched his movements when he was preparing his last expedi- 
tion, complained of it to the King as hostile and piratical to Spain ; and 
drew from his weakness, every particular of the voyage, on which the King 
sent for the patent to Raleigh and corrected it. Circumstances subsequent- 

* Cavley, vol. 2, pp. U0-1U. 



104 ELDORADO. 

ly occurred, which enabled Gondomar to exert still greater power over 
him. 

The King, in giving his consent to this expedition, it is presumed, as his 
wants were great at this time, had placed great hopes on the discovery of 
the mine which Raleigh had represented to exist on the Oronoke. But 
afterward a project being started of a Spanish matrimonial alliance, which 
he began to idolize, he found it more important to him to preserve peace 
with Spain, and grew less in favor of Raleigh's enterprise. Such being 
the state of his feelings, on the return of Raleigh, Gondomar availed him- 
self of it to procure his ruin. Accordingly, as soon as intelligence arrived 
in London of Raleigh's proceeding, he proceeded to the King, exclaiming, 
" Pirates! pirates! pirates!" without adding more. 

By all these causes King James was prepared, on the arrival of Raleigh, 
to make 3tim suffer the penalties of the law, on the ground of his having 
committed acts of hostility against a power with whom England was then 
at peace ; and, on the tenth of June, published a proclamation, declaring 
his detestation of the conduct of the expedition, and charging such of his 
subjects as could give any information respecting it, to repair immediately 
to the privy council. Raleigh no sooner reached Plymouth, and heard 
of the proclamation, than he resolved to surrender himself, confiding, as- 
he confessed before his death, too much in the King's goodness. On his 
way to London he met with his relative, Sir Lewis Stukely, with author- 
ity to arrest and bring him to London. With him he returned to Ply- 
mouth, where, panic-struck, upon a closer view of his situation, he once 
meditated an escape to France. Still, however, the goodness of his cause 
prevailed over every apprehension, and the project was laid aside. Yet 
he found it necessary, on his journey to London, to gain time for prepa- 
ring his vindication, by the expedient of feigning sickness, and in that in- 
terval wrote the apology for his voyage. As he approached to London, 
when a messenger appeared witli a warrant for the speedy bringing up of 
his person, his constancy forsook him, and he again attempted an escape 
to France. But he greatly misapplied his trust in the agents he employ- 
ed. His relative, Stukely, after encouraging, and even pretending to lend 
a hand in the design, received a bribe and betrayed him. In a boat, in 
the very act of making his escape in disguise, he was apprehended and 
committed to the Tower. 

Much deliberation was exercised by the Chancellor and Commissioners, 
which continued two months, in regard to the manner of proceeding against 
him. It was at last determined, that the sentence which had been passed 
against him fifteen years since, the execution of which had been suspend- 
ed, should be enforced ; and soon after the decision had been made known 
to the King, a privy seal was sent to the Judges to order immediate execu- 
tion. 

Raleigh was then called to the bar, and being informed by the court of 
the order of the King, and asked, in the customary form, why execution 
should not be awarded against him ? — after apologizing for the weakness of 



EXECUTION OF RALEIGH. 105 

hi* voice, in consequence of his late sickness, he hoped that the judgment 
which he received should not be strained to take away his life, as his ma- 
jesty had given him permission to proceed on a voyage beyond the seas, 
where he had power, as marshal, on the life and death of others, which 
he considered discharged the judgment. But he was interrupted by the 
Chief Justice, who told him that was not sufficient ; that in case of treason, 
by express words, and not by implication, pardon was granted ; and after 
exhorting him to meet his fate in a manner suitable to his high character, 
as a valiant and wise man, ordered execution. The warrant for his 
execution dispensed with the former judgment of hanging, drawing and 
quartering. Some petitions are said to have been presented to the King 
in his behalf, as well as solicitations from persons of distinction, which 
proved ineffectual. The Queen appears to have been in the number of 
his intercessors. i 

: "Few have acted," says Mr. Cayley, "so difficult a part in the last 
scene of his life, with the spirit and firmness which Raleigh displayed in 
it. The inefficacy of the intercessions with the King in his behalf, proved 
no disappointment to him. He no longer expected — he seemed not to 
wish for mercy. To some of his friends, who deplored his misfortune, he 
said, with calmness, ' The world is but a larger prison, out of which some 
are daily selected for execution.' 

" On Thursday morning, the twenty-ninth of October, he was conducted 
by the sheriff to the scaffold. His countenance was cheerful. He saluted 
the lords and gentlemen of his acquaintance who were present, and then 
entered into an explanation of his conduct. Having finished, he prepared 
himself for his execution. Having taken off his gown and doublet, he 
asked the executioner to show him the axe, and felt the edge, and smiling 
said to the sheriff, ' This is a sharp medicine, but it is a remedy for all dis- 
eases.' He then laid down, and after a short pause, made a sign that he 
"was ready ; and was beheaded, without the least shrink or motion of his 
body."* 

Thus did Sir Walter Raleigh lose his life, under a sentence which had 
lain dormant for fifteen years ; and which he considered was virtually ab. 
rogated, and his pardon granted, by the patent for the conquest of Guyana 
granted to him by the crown, by one clause of which he was constituted 
Governor and commander-in-chief of the enterprise; by another, appoint- 
ed Governor of the new colony he was to settle, with ample authority ; 
and by the third, he had a power rarely intrusted to admirals, that of ex- 
ercising martial law by sea and by land. And if he had thought it neces- 
sary, he might have obtained his pardon, for his friends at court, through 
whom he had procured his liberation from the Tower, offered £700 to 
obtain it for him, and this without requiring him to make the expedition 
to Guyana ; but when he consulted Sir Francis Bacon, the most eminent 
lawyer in England, whether it were advisable to pay a sum of money for 
his pardon in the common form, he said to him, " Sir, the knee-timber of 

* Cnyky's Life of Raleigh, vol. 2, ch. Ix. 



106 EL DORADO. 

your voyage is money. Spare your purse in this particular, for upon my 
life you have a sufficient pardon for all that is past already ; the King 
having, under his broad seal, made you admiral of your fleet, and given 
you power of martial law over your officers and soldiers."* 

Raleigh, too, might have considered the long confinement which he 
endured, while the sentence was suffered to lay dormant, was a fulfill- 
ment of it, instead of the exaction of the literal penalty, and his liberation 
without any condition or restriction, was itself a virtual pardon. But he 
could not only justly complain of the form of proceeding adopted against 
him, but he contended, and on rightful grounds, that he had committed no 
act rendering him amenable to law. 

He was charged with a piratical proceeding against the possessions of 
the King of Spain. To this he replied, that Guyana belonged to England, 
having been first discovered by himself twenty-three years before, although 
the Spaniards came afterward in his absence and made a settlement there ; 
and that England actually considered it to belong to her, for, in 1609, 
seven years before his last expedition, she made a grant of nearly the 
whole of it to Mr. Robert Harcourt, resting her claim to the country on 
no other ground than his discovery, according to the rules adopted by all 
Protestant nations at that time, that the right of discovery gave a title to 
possessions in the new hemisphere. On this basis it was, that having, 
under the patent of discovery granted by Queen Elizabeth, discovered 
Virginia, he claimed it as belonging to England, for his benefit ; although 
Amidas and Barlowe, who were sent out by him with two vessels and 
made the discovery, after examining the country, only drew up a record 
signed by a number of their company as evidence that they had taken pos- 
session of it, and came away without making any establishment upon it, 
or leaving a single person behind. Against the claims of Spain to Guy- 
ana, Raleigh could also allege the amicable league he had made in be- 
half of the English with the Charibees, on the Oronoke, the rightfnl owners 
of the country ; who invited him among them, while they expelled the 
Spaniards, and relied on the assistance of the English against them. Be- 
sides, he had the King's leave to sail to the Oronoke and take possession 
of the mine he related to be there ; which the King would not have grant- 
ed, if he had considered that the country belonged to Spain ; for the pro- 
ceeding was equally piratical with the burning of a Spanish town. Spain, 
on the other hand, while she wholly disregarded the rights of the aborigi- 
nes in the new hemisphere, pretended an exclusive claim to all the undis- 
covered land in it, under a grant from Pope Alexander Sixth, who then 
filled the papal chair, and that no other nation had a right to any part of 
it on the ground of first discovery, and treated the claims of Raleigh as a 
perfect nullity. 

To this extravagant pretension of Spain, King James, in regard to the 
matrimonial alliance he had in view with it — being desirous to preserve 
amicable relations with it — found it expedient to yield, in opposition to the 

* Ciyley, vol. 2, pp. 63—64. 



INJUSTICE TO RALEIGH. 197 

rules and principles uniformily followed by England in regard to foreign 
discoveries, and to sacrifice to a rival Power one of the brightest ornaments 
of his country. 

That the proceedings against Sir Walter Raleigh were clearly unjust 
and oppressive, has been proclaimed by the unanimous voice of after times. 
Able pens have done justice to his merits, while they have exposed the 
iniquity of his condemnation, and sympathized with the misfortunes of one 
so distinguished for his talents and services, who combined an assemblage 
of qualities seldom united in one individual, fitting him for any scene of 
action, public or private — at once Statesman, Soldier, Seaman, Philosopher 
and Poet ; and his history will ever remain a conspicuous, but clouded 
page, in the history of his country. 

Even his most violent enemies have been compelled to condemn the 
conduct of the Government toward him. 

" No measure of James's reign," says Hume, " was attended with more 
public dissatisfaction than the punishment of Sir Walter Raleigh. To exe- 
cute a sentence which was originally so hard, which had been so long 
suspended, and which seemed to have been tacitly pardoned, by confer- 
ring on him a new trust and. commission, was deemed an instance of cruelty 
and injustice. To sacrifice to a concealed enemy of England, the life of 
the only man in the nation who had a high reputation for valor and mili- 
tary experience, was regarded as meanness and indiscretion ; and the inti- 
mate connections which the King was now entering into with Spain, being 
universally distasteful, rendered the proof of his complaisance still more 
invidious and unpopular." 

Thus it has been seen that the project, which twenty-three years before 
seized on the mind of this distinguished man, and excited in him the most 
enthusiastic desire for its accomplishment ; and which, during that long 
period, he ardently and perseveringly pux'sued, he was unable to achieve ; 
while his unavailing efforts, after consuming all his estate, brought him 
to a melancholy end. But, although his enterprises to Guyana produced 
no benefit to him, but only misfortune, they were not profitless to his coun- 
try. Guyana was, therefore, in consequence of his discovery, claimed by 
England as belonging to her ; and others soon entered upon the field which 
he had opened, wrested the prize from him, for which he had so long con- 
tended, and reaped the benefit of all his toils and efforts. 

The description he gave of this country in his Narrative, with the glow- 
ing colors of a warm imagination, drew strongly public attention in Eng- 
land to this region ; and gave rise, even before his last voyage, and while 
he was yet in prison in the Tower, to two voyages to it, by persons wholly 
unconnected with him. In 1604, Charles Leigh fitted out a vessel, and 
sailed to the river Oyapoke in Cayenne, and took possession, for England, 
of all the country lying between the Oronoke and Amazon. In 1608, 
Robert Harcourt, Esq., whose voyage and narrative have been frequently 
mentioned, set sail for the same river with a colony, where he arrived 
May seventeenth, and commenced a settlement. He took " possession, in his 



108 EL DORADO. 

sovereign's name, of all the spacious country of Guyana, bounded on the 
north with the Oronoke and the sea, on the east and south with the river 
Amazon, and on the west with the mountains of Peru." On his return to 
England, he, with Sir Thomas Challoner and John Rowenson, obtained 
letters patent from James I. to settle all the lands between the Amazon 
and Spanish Guyana. It was this grant which Raleigh contended com- 
pletely exonerated him from the charge of any piratical proceeding against 
Spain, as by it England claimed the country as belonging to her. The 
attention of the English appears also to have been early turned to the 
river Surinam ; a company of colonists from England having settled there 
in 1634, engaged in the cultivation of tobacco, and in 1650 a plan for the 
colonization of it was set on foot by Lord Willoughby, of Parham, who 
sent to it a vessel with some men, where they were favorably received by 
the Indians and made a settlement on it, and in 1652 he obtained, together 
with Lawrence Hyde, a son of the Earl of Clarendon, a grant from Charles 
II. of all the country between Cayenne and Spanish Guyana, under the 
name of the Province of Surinam. * 

■■' The French, also, now began to turn their attention to Guyana, and 
made successive attempts to colonize Cayenne, from 1624 to 1652 ; but 
which were frustrated by the opposition of the Charibees, who were the 
principal native population of that country — till at length an association 
formed in France, under the name of the French Equinoctial Company, 
in 1663, sent a colony to it, of sufficient force to withstand them and 
maintain possession of the country, which laid the foundation of the pres- 
ent colony. Prior to the arrival of either the English or French on this 
coast, a settlement had been made on the Surinam river by the Portuguese, 
or Spaniards. But they, also, commencing acts of cruelty against the 
Charibees, they attacked them, and destroyed the settlement. 

The Portuguese were, also, the first to settle on the Essequibo river, 
where they erected a fort, which was found deserted when the Dutch first 
came to it ; for they, at that time the commercial rivals of England, were 
also among the earliest navigators to the coast of Guyana. As early as 
1580 — which was some years before the voyages of Raleigh — they 
attempted to form settlements on the Amazon, Oronoke, and Pomeroon, 
for trading purposes ; and on the last river they had a factory called New- 
Zealand. In 1581, the States General of Holland, privileged certain 
individuals to trade to this coast.f Before 1596, nine or ten armed ves- 
sels from Holland were seen trading in the Oronoke, for tobacco ; and 
before that time, also, they had made a settlement on the Essequibo. But 
the Spaniards looking on these proceedings with a jealous eye, drove the 
Dutch away from this river and the Pomeroon. In 1602, they planted a 
colony on the river Berbice, and about the same time had succeeded in 
establishing themselves on the Essequibo. In 1741, the colonists on this 
river, thinking the lands near the sea more productive than the upper 

* Hartsynck Beschryving von Guiana, p. 122. t Hartsynck. 



PRIORITY OF DISCOVERY. 109 

country, on which they had previously settled, began to form plantations 
on the river Demerara.* I 

The acquaintance which the Dutch so early formed with the Oronoke, 
and which was before the first voyage of Raleigh, is not considered to 
affect his claim to the country upon it, as first discoverer, as it does not 
appear that they succeeded in making a location upon it, or that they 
entered into any treaty with the natives. Nor did they assert a right to 
this country, as first discoverers, against the English, although they were 
well acquainted with the expeditions of Raleigh to it ; for the first map of 
Guyana was made by Hondius in Holland, and was prepared from his 
narrative, and entitled, " A Chart of the Wonderful Region of Guyana, 
discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh." 

To the coast of Guyana, the Portuguese, undoubtedly, had a precedent 
claim as the first discoverers ; as they not only were the first to locate 
themselves on the Essequibo river, but erected a fort upon it ; and the 
grants of this district, subsequently made by England, as belonging to 
.her on the ground of the first discovery by Raleigh, therefore assumed a 
basis which was not correct. But asserting her right to it on this ground, 
she admitted the claim made by Raleigh to the borders of the Oronoke, 
and proved the clear injustice of the punishment which afterward fell 
upon him. 

The Dutch made early settlements also, in Cayenne ; but the efforts of 
the French to possess that country, obliged them to discontinue them. 
They also commenced them on the river Surinam, which were likewise 
thwarted by the measures the English took to maintain the colony they 
had established there, which continued with the bounds, as granted to 
Lord Willoughby, viz. : from Cayenne to Spanish Guayana, an appendage 
to England, until the year 1667. 

In this year, during the war which then existed between England and 
Holland, a Dutch fleet of three vessels, under Admiral Cryssen, came to 
the river Surinam, and ascending it to the English settlement, took the 
fort, and received the capitulation of the colonists. f In the mean time, 
England had conquered from the Dutch, their colony of New- Amsterdam, 
in North America, afterward called the province of New- York, and now 
one of the United States of America ; and by the treaty of peace which 
was concluded with her and Holland, in 1667, it was agreed, that each 
Power should retain the conquests it had made ; and Surinam was ceded 
in perpetuity to Holland, and the province of New-Amsterdam was 
yielded in like manner to England. ± 

The colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice, formed by the 
Dutch within the limits of Surinam, now called British Guyana, were 
ceded to Great Britain, by Holland, for a valuable consideration, by a 
convention signed at London, thirteenth August, 1814. § 

* Martin's History of British Colonies. t Hartsinck, p. 586.1 

I Rees's Cyclopedia. Holmes's American Annals. 

§ Martin's History of British Colonies. 



110 ELDORADO. 

The fact which I have stated, of the exchange of the province of Suri- 
nam for the territory now constituting the State of New-York, may be 
thought by some incredible ; but it is to be considered, that the present 
colony which bears that name, forms but a part of its bounds, as they 
were at that period ; — which were from Cayenne to Spanish Guyana, 
comprising an extent of coast of three hundred miles, and extending an 
equal distance, at least, into the interior, (embracing the portion now called 
British Guyana,) an area full as large as that of this State. Nor in 
regard to the value of the country, were the Dutch dissatisfied with the 
exchange. Guyana, it has been seen, was, during the first part of the 
seventeenth century, a prize contended for by various European powers. 
Spain, Portugal, France, England, and Holland, all endeavored to acquire 
possessions in it. The mineral riches reported to be there, not only the 
fable of El Dorado, but of mines of gold, gave the first impulse to the 
desire of Europeans to possess it, and presented it to them for some time 
as a land of promise. At the period of this exchange, the fable of El 
Dorado began to die on the ear ; the golden city, pursued like an ignis 
fatnus, but never discovered, was at length considered merely an idle tale ; 
and the mines of gold proved not to be so easily found, or when found, 
not of such certainty as to be much relied on. But the Dutch, who had 
some years before commenced settlements in Cayenne and Surinam, from 
which they had been overpowered by the French and English, found there 
was a richer mine in the fine alluvial soil along the coast of Guyana, well 
adapted to the cultivation of sugar and coffee ; the proof of which was 
seen in the profitableness of the colonies to Holland, which they formed 
upon it. But valuable as they are, what a contrast do they afford to the 
present elevated and flourishing condition of their northern colony, which 
they surrendered for this territory. They had not the gift of prophecy, 
to foresee, that over the large expanse of country embraced within its 
bounds, which extends westward from the Hudson river — then an un- 
broken wilderness, which they viewed only as the abode of the savage 
tribes who inhabited- it, whose inroads they continually dreaded — streams 
of population would, in time, in rapid succession spread, subduing the 
forests, and building up towns and villages without number, accompanied 
with the comforts, and even refinements of life, which in other countries 
belong only to an advanced period of their existence ; and that before 
the close of two centuries, their small and feeble colony would become 
the principal member of an important empire, with a population equal to 
that which Holland, its parent State, itself possesses. 



CHAPTER VII. 

EXAMINATION OF SEVERAL REMARKABLE RELATIONS MADE BY RALEIGH OF 
INDIAN TRIBES IN GUYANA AND ITS VICINITY, PARTICULARLY OF A NATION 

OF FEMALE WARRIORS ON THE AMAZON SIMILAR RELATIONS MADE BY 

VARIOUS TRAVELLERS. 

I cannot close my examination of Sir Walter Raleigh's Narrative of 
his first expedition to Guyana, without adverting to some other matters 
contained in it, of a tendency, unexplained, to affect him injuriously. The 
censure and ridicule which he incurred from the relations he made in it, 
of the mineral riches of that region and the city of El Dorado, were 
probably increased by accounts which he gave of some extraordinary 
tribes in it ; one of which, it is certain, contributed greatly to throw dis- 
credit on his whole relation — that of the existence in Guyana of a com- 
munity of female warriors, and is particularly mentioned by Hume in 
the denunciation he has made of him. Gn a candid examination, how- 
ever, ,of these relations, which I propose to make in the present and suc- 
ceeding chapter, his character will, I believe, be entirely relieved from 
any liability to censure in respect to them. 

One of these accounts, is that which he gives of a nation called Titi- 
vivas, inhabiting the numerous islands in the Delta of the Oronoke, whom 
he thus describes : " In the summer, they have houses on ground as in 
other places, and in the winter they dwell upon trees, where they huild very 
artificial towns and dwellings. They never eat anything that is set or 
sown. They use the tops of palmitos for bread, and kill deer, fish, &c, 
for their sustenance. They are, for the most part, makers of canoes, which 
they sell into Guyana for gold, and into Trinidado for tobacco."* 
i But that Sir Walter heard this account, there cannot be any doubt. 
The people who inhabit these islands are the Guaranos, whom Gumilla thus 
speaks of : "When their islands are periodically inundated by the rise 
of the Oronoke, they erect their huts on piles, to be above the water. 
These huts are made of the mauritia palm, which grows abundantly in 
these islands, and are covered with the leaves of it. From the fibres of 
the leaf, they make their hamacks and their cords for fishing, and bow* 
strings. Around the pulpy shoot that ascends from the trunk, is a web- 
like integument that serves them for the slight covering they wear. On 
the productions of this tree, also, they entirely subsist. The pulpy shoot 
is eaten as cabbage, and the tree bears a fruit like the date, but some- 
what larger. When the inundation ceases, the tree is cut down, and 

* Cayiey's Life of Raleigh, vol, 1. p. 215. 



112 EL DORADO. 

bein<j perforated, a palatable juice exudes, from which they make a drink. 
The interior substance of it is then taken out, and thrown into vessels of 
water and well washed, and the ligneous fibres being removed, a white 
sediment is deposited, which, dried in the sun, is made into a very palata- 
ble bread."* 

It is not improbable they formerly lived in the manner that Raleigh 
describes, if they do not at present ; for Humboldt thus speaks of them, 
but only on report, as he did not descend the Oronoke to its outlet : " Du. 
ring the inundation, they sometimes ascend the mauritia palm-tree, and 
remain on it while it continues, hanging mats on it, which they fill with 
earth, and kindle, on a layer of moist clay, the fire necessary for their 
household wants." 

Thomson, the elegant poet of the ' Seasons,' has introduced among his 
descriptions, an account of the singular mode of life of this people in the 
following lines : 

" Wide o'er his isles, the brandling Oronoque 
Rolls a brown deluge, and the native drives 
To dwell aloft on life-sufficing trees, 
At once his dome, his robe, his food, his arms." 

It is not necessary for the defence of Raleigh, to inquire whether the 
accounts he heard of this nation, and which are confirmed by Humboldt, 
are correct or not. It is sufficient to prove, in his vindication, that they 
are not his invention, that so distinguished a traveller as the one just 
mentioned, has repeated the same. 

Nor is the mode of life of these Indians, as described by both, without 
a parallel. 

Herrera observes, that at Maracaybo, on the coast of Venezuela, 
were houses set upon piles in the water, so that boats could pass under 
them,! and that Balbao observed, on the shores of the Isthmus of Darien, 
Indians living on trees above the height of the overflowing waters.^: He 
states further, that on the South Sea, in the province of New-Grenada, 
" were barbarous people who had their houses on trees, because the country 
is subject to be overflowed ; who, at the proper seasons come down to reap 
and fish, and returned back to their houses to avoid drowning. "§ 

In the account of the first voyage of discovery, made by Vespucci, 
there is also mention of a people on the coast of South America, living 
thus above water. He first saw land on the coast of Brazil, two hundred 
leagues from Paria, from which he proceeded westward along the coast, 
often trading, till he came to a place " where he saw a town in the water, 
much in the same manner as Venice, containing twenty-six large houses, 
like bells, raised on pillars, with draw-bridges to go from one house to 
another." It is probable, indeed, these were the Guaranos, who are 
described as sometimes having their houses on piles, and sometimes living 
in trees — as this town is said to be eighty leagues from Paria, which 
agrees with the distance of the Oronoke from it. 

* Gumilla, Chap, viii.; t Dec. 6. cb. xxv. t Dec. 6. § Dec. 1 ch. i. 



COROBORATIONS. X13 

Sir Walter Raleigh speaks of the Tibivivas, (or Guaranos,) as for the 
most part, " makers of canoes, which they sell into Guyana for gold, and 
into Trinidad for tobacco. 1 ' The same account is given of them by very 
recent writers. Dr. Hancock, who resided some time on the Oronoke, 
in his ' Observations on Guyana,' says : 

" They are skillful makers of canoes, which is their principal employ- 
ment during the recess of the waters. They construct them on the best 
model for beauty and safety. The pith of the large branches of the 
mauritia, divided into thin lamina, furnishes them sails, and the fibres of 
the leaf, materials for ropes. The famed Spanish launches on the Oro- 
noke are made by them." And another writer says, that " from their 
skill on the water, and their knowledge of its mouths, they are accus- 
tomed to hire themselves as sailors in the colonial craft, and constitute a 
great majority of the crews."* 

Of the language of this nation, I obtained a vocabulary, taken down by 
my own hand, which is in the table, Appendix No. III. ( 

A very singular remark is made by Raleigh, respecting this nation, 
which has not attracted any notice : " The plains of Saymas," (Chaymas, 
which extend from the Oronoke to Caraccas,) he was informed, " were 
inhabited by four principal nations : the first, are the Sayma ; the second 
Assawai ; the third and greatest, the Wikiri ; the fourth are called Aro- 
ras, and are as black as negroes." The Guaranos are called by the 
Charibees, U-ara-u ;f and by the European colonists, Worrows ; and in- 
habit not only the islands, but also the adjacent coast. This circumstance 
mentioned regarding them, is partially confirmed by travellers. Dr. 
Bancroft, in his History of Guyana, says, " their color is much darker 
than that of the Charibees." Captain Alexander, in his late Travels, 
also says, "their color is darker." This was also mentioned to me as ft 
striking peculiarity in their appearance. The relation made by Raleigh, 
brings to mind a circumstance of which Columbus was informed at Hayti, 
that black men had come to this island from the south and southwest, the 
heads of whose javelins were pointed with a sort of metal called guanin. 
Charlevoix conjectures, that "these black people may have come from the 
Canaries, or the western coast of Africa." But the southern direction from 
which it is said they arrived, is at variance with this hypothesis, while it 
agrees with the residence of the Guaranos ; and the metal guanin, is fre- 
quently mentioned by the early voyagers, as found among the Indians on t/ie 
northern coast of South America, and spoken of as an inferior species of 
gold ; but which was a compound metal, consisting of gold, silver and 
copper. 

The following relation made by Sir Walter Raleigh, was calculated 
still more to represent him as a dealer in fable and romance, 

" Next unto Arvi, (a branch of the Oronoke from the south.) there are 
two rivers, Atoica and.Caora ; and on that branch which is called Caora, 

* Mr. Hiilhouse's Journal Gee?. Soci.of London. T Humboldt. 



114 EL DORADO. 

(the Caura,) are a nation of people whose heads appear not above their 
shoulders, which, though it may be thought a fable, I am resolved it is true ; 
because every child in the provinces of Aromaia and Canuri, affirm the 
same ; they are called Ewaiponama. 

" They are reported to have their eyes in their shoulders, and their 
mouths in the middle of their breasts. The son of Topiawari, (the Cha- 
ribee chief on the Oronoke,) whom I brought with me into England, told 
me, that they are the most mighty men of all the land, and use bows, 
arrows, and clubs, thrice as big as any of Guyana — and when I seemed 
to doubt of it, he told me that it was no wonder among them ; but that 
they were as great a nation, and as common as any other in all the 
provinces." 

Lawrence Keymis, who commanded the second expedition made by him, 
makes a similar relation. A Charibee captain v/ith whom he conversed, 
on entering the Oronoke, he observes, " certified me of the headless men; 
and that "their mouths in their breasts are exceeding wide. The name of 
the nation in the Charibee language, is Chiparemai, and the Guyanians 
call them Ewaipanomos." 

It is this account, no doubt, which led the great dramatist of England, 
to introduce the following passage in the tragedy of Othello, where the 
Moor, describing to his fair hearer the hardships he had endured, and the 
wonders lie had seen in his travels, speaks, 

"Of Die Cannibals, who each other eat, 
The Anthropophagi— and of the men whose heads 
Do grow beneath their shoulders." 

That Raleigh heard these relations, which is all that is necessary to be 
proved in regard to his justification, there is, on first view, a decided pre- 
sumption ; for, although in regard to the wealth of Guyana, the great 
object of his pursuit, he might be led undesignedly to exaggerate, it is 
wholly improbable he should fabricate so strange a relation, which had 
no tendency to advance ins object ; but was rather calculated to injure 
it, by representing such a deformed nation to be in that region, while it 
added nothing to the dignity of his narrative, and was altogether uncon- 
genial with his fine genius and elegant taste. 

And strange and extraordinary as it is, it is not the first time that won- 
derful tales have been brought by travellers, from rude and savage nations, 
which it never has been doubted, were related to them, and the charge 
of imposture made only against the relators. 

Pliny, in his Natural History, lib. vii., has recited the names of a num- 
ber of notions, in his time, who were said by travellers to be wonder- 
fully deforced. He remarks, India and Ethiopia abound in wonders. 
Megathenes lelates, that in a mountain in India, called Nul, the men have 
feet turned backward, and eight toes to each foot. Ctesias speaks of 
several mountains inhabited by men with the head of a dog, covered 
with the skins of wild beasts, and bark, instead of speaking : also, of a 



ANCIENT HISTORIANS. 115 

race of men, who have only one leg, and who leap with surprising agility. 
They are the neighbors of the Troglodytes : at a little to the west of these 
are some men without heads, and who have eyes in their shoulders. 

These marvels, however, are not related by Pliny alone. Herodotus 
observes, that " the Issidones, who are north of the Scythians, affirm that 
the country beyond them is inhabited by a race of men who have but 
one eye, and by Gryphins, who are guardians of the gold. In the 
Scythian tongue, they are called Arimaspians, from arima, the Scythian, 
word for one, and spu — an eye, (Book 4, ch. 28). The same historian 
repeats, also, the relation of Pliny, of men in Africa, who had the 
heads of dogs ; and of others, who had their mouths in their breasts." 
Here, also, he observes, " are the Cynocephali, as well as the Acephali, 
who, if the Libyans may be credited, have their mouths in their breasts."* 
In the list of Pliny, it will be seen, is a description of a nation re- 
sembling that of which Raleigh has given a relation, viz : " men with- 
out heads, and who have eyes in their shoulders," or the Acephali of 
Herodotus. Mr. JBeloe, the translator of the Greek historian, in a note, 
observes : " The Cynocephali, whom the Africans considered as men 
with the heads of dogs, were a species of baboon, remarkable for their 
boldness and ferocity. As to the Acephali, I can give no better ac- 
count than by copying the ingenious author of Philosophic Researches 
concerning the Americans : " There is," says he, " in Cinnabar, a race 
of savages who have hardly any neck, and whose shoulders reach up 
to the ears. This monstrous appearance is artificial ; and to give it to 
their children, they put enormous weights upon their heads, so as to 
make the vertebrsa of the neck enter, if we may so say, the channel- 
bone, (clavicule). These barbarians, from a distance, seem to have 
the mouth in the breast ; and might well enough, in ignorant or enthu- 
siastic travellers, be taken to be men without heads." 

If such accounts are related by ancient writers, it is not wholly 
incredible, that some of a similar kind may be heard among the Ame- 
rican Indians ; and if Herodotus and Pliny have thought proper to em- 
body them in their history, it is extraordinary, that Sir Walter Raleigh 
should have been subject to ridicule for having done the same. But that 
such a report as he has related, is actually spread, even at the present 
day, in the region which he visited, is moreover established by the highest 
evidence — that of Humboldt. 

" After ascending the Oronoke, beyond the cataract of Maypures," he 
observes, " we passed first on the east, the mouth of the Rio Sipapu, 
called Tipapu by the Indians ; and then on the west, the mouth of the 
Rio Vichadi. The forests of Sipapu are altogether unknown, and there 
the missionaries place the nation of the Rayas, who have their mouth oa 
the naval. An old Indian, whom we met at Carichana, and who boasted 
of having often eaten human flesh, had seen these " Acephali" with his 

* Terpsichore. 1M. 

• 8* 



116 ELDORADO. 

own eyes. These absurd fables are spread as far as the Llanos, where 
you are not always permitted to doubt the existence of the Raya Indians. 
(In a note he observes, they are called Raya, on account of the pretended 
analogy with the fish of that name, the mouth of which seems as if forced 
below the body.) Beyond the great cataracts an unknown land begins. 
None of the missionaries who had described the Oronoke before me, had 
passed the raudal of the Maypures. We found but three Christian set- 
tlements above the Great Cataracts along the shores of the Oronoke, in an 
extent of more than a hundred leagues ; and these three establishments 
contained scarcely six or eight white persons, that is to say, persons of 
European race. We cannot be surprised that such a desert region should 
have been, at all times, the classical soil of fable and fairy visions. It is 
there that grave missionaries have placed nations, with one eye on the 
forehead, the head of a dog, or the mouth below the stomach." It is 
there they have found all that the ancients relate of the Arimaspes and 
the Hyperboreans. It would be an error to suppose that these simple and 
rustic missionaries had themselves invented all these exaggerated fictions. 
They derived them, in a great, part from the recitals of the Indians. 
These tales of travellers and of monks, increase in improbability in pro- 
portion as you increase your distance from the forests of the Oronoke, and 
approach the coasts inhabited by the whites. When at Cumana, New- 
Barcelona, and other seaports which have frequent communication with 
the missions, you betray any incredulity, you are reduced to silence by 
these few words : " The Fathers have seen it — but far above the great 
cataracts." 

The report of the existence of such a nation may have originated in a 
custom practiced by some Indians, similar to that of the people of Cinna- 
bar ; for Ciesca, an early traveller, speaks of it as found in the provinces 
of Cali and Quimboya, in New-Grenada, west of the Andes, " where 
they shape the child's head when first it is born, as they please, so that 
some have no nape of the neck ; others the forehead sunk ; others very 
long; which they do with little bands, when they are just born."* 

But it is for the account Sir Walter Raleigh has given of a nation of 
female warriors, existing on the river Amazon, that he has been princi- 
pally charged by his detractors with gross credulity, as a dealer in fable 
and romance, or with sheer imposture. This account is as follows : " I 
made inquiry among the most ancient and best-travelled of the Oronoki- 
poni," (the name which the Charibees, the principal nation on the Oronoke, 
gave themselves.) " respecting the warlike women, and will relate what I 
was informed of as truth about them, by a Cacique who said he had been 
on that river, (the Amazon,) and beyond it also. Their country is on the 
south side of the river, in the province of Tobago, and their chief places 
are in the islands on the south side of it, some sixty leagues from the 
mouth, Cof the river Tobago.) They accompany with men, once in a 

* Travels in South America, by Peter i\e Cicscti. 



THE AMAZON S. 117 

year, for a month, which is in April. The Kings of the Borderers assem- 
ble, and the Queens of the Amazons, who first choose their companions, 
and then the rest cast lots for their valentines. The whole month is 
spent in feasting, dancing, and drinking ; at the end of which, they all 
depart to their homes. Children born of these alliances, if males, they 
send them to their fathers ; if daughters, they take care of them and bring 
them up. But that they cut off the right breast, I do not find to be true. 
I was informed, that if in their wars they took any prisoners, they also 
accompanied with them for a time, but in the end certainly killed them ; 
for they are said to be very cruel and bloodthirsty, especially to such as 
offer to invade their territories. They have also a great quantity of those 
plates of gold, which are in the form of crescents ; which they obtain in 
exchange for a certain kind of green stones, which the Spaniards call 
piedras liijados, and we use for spleen-stones.* 

In regard to this account, it is to be observed, in the first place, that 
whether true or false, Raleigh does not express a belief of it. He seems 
rather to guard against this being implied, by his observing, " that on this 
subject I will deliver what has been told me." And it is extraordinary, 
that he should have been subject to so much censure and ridicule, for 
publishing relations of this kind, which he had heard from Indians on the 
Oronoke, as if he were the only one who had ever stated the exist- 
ence of them in South America. But such reports are almost coeval 
with the discovery of America. The name of the largest river in the 
southern continent, I have observed before, derives its name from an ac- 
count brought by Orellana, its discoverer, of having met with such a 
nation on its banks. I have related by what circumstances he was 
induced to leave Pizarro, whom he had accompanied, in his search for 
El Dorado ; that after separating from him, he descended the river 
Napo, which falls into the Amazon ; and at the mouth of it came to a 
town, where the principal men were dressed in gold plates and jewels. 
Herrera, from whom the account of his voyage down the Amazon is 
taken, gives the following particulars learned by him, respecting the ex- 
istence of such a nation on its banks. He mentions that Orellana heard 
of it first, at this town, at the mouth of the Napo ; that F. Gaspar de 
Carvajal, who was present, relates, that one of the Caciques "gave inti- 
mation of the Amazons, and of the great wealth that was farther down." 
Leaving this town, he proceeded two hundred and twenty leagues, when 
he came to another town on the same side of the river — none having been 
seen before — and afterward to another on the opposite side. Proceeding 
thus in sight of good towns, the next day four canoes came to the boat, 
offering provisions. They invited him to see their lord, whose name was 
Apuria, and said, that if they were going to see the Amazons, whom 
ne called Coniapuyara, signifying Great Ladies, they were too few, those 
women being very numerous. Orellana proceeded down the river about 

* Cayley's Life of Kn.'eigli, vol. 1. pp. 1M-195. 



118 EL DORADO. 

five hundred leagues farther, when he landed at a place where the Indians 
defended themselves with large bucklers ; and presently after, on the left 
hand he saw another river, emptying into the great one, the water of 
which was as black as ink. (From the distance he had run, and the 
color of the river, this must be the Rio Negro.) Proceeding on, he 
passed between very large towns and provinces, taking in provisions. 
At one town he took an Indian, who said that the Amazons were ladies of 
the place ; and they found a house there, in which were garments made 
of feathers of various colors, which the Indians wore at their festivals, to 
dance in. Orellana held on his way, passing through a well-peopled 
country, stopping occasionally, and meeting with no annoyance from the 
natives. He then came to a place where the Indians, when he offered 
them toys by way of barter, made a jest of them ; on which he ordered 
the vessels to steer to the place, and the Indians there shot such a flight 
of arrows, that they wounded five of the Spaniards, and on their landing 
fought furiously ; which F. Carjaval says, they did as being tributaries 
of the Amazons ; and that he and all the rest saw ten or twelve of them 
fighting like commanders before the men, so desperately, that these In- 
dians durst not turn their backs ; and if any one happened to run away, 
they beat them to death with cudgels. These women appeared to them 
very tall, strong-limbed and fair ; their hair long, wound about their heads 
in tresses, stark naked, carrying bows and arrows ; — seven or eight of 
whom the Spaniards killed, upon which the Indians fled. Orellana then 
passed through a country which he called the province of St. John, ex- 
tending one hundred and fifty leagues along the coast. Having passed 
it, he went to rest in a wood of oaks, where he asked a prisoner he had, 
many questions ; and was informed by him, that the country was subject 
to women, who lived like Amazons, and were very rich in gold and sil- 
ver, and had five temples of the Sun, plated with gold, the structures of 
stone ; their cities walled ; and so many other particulars, says Herrera, 
that I neither dare believe nor report them.* 

But Orellana is not the only one who has given an account of the exist- 
ence of such a nation on the Amazon, or its vicinity. Reports of a sim- 
ilar kind have been ^repeated by a succession of voyagers down this river 
at great intervals of time, and assigning nearly the same locality to it. 
About the same time, a very positive relation of them came from the 
Spanish territories, south of the Amazon. In 1541, Cabeza de Vega 
ascended the Paragua, and marched into the country toward Peru, in 
search of gold. He had sent before him Hernando de Ribeiro, with fifty- 
two men, in a brigantine, to the lake Xarayes, to make inquiries of the 
country farther on, and explore the waters. This lake, which, like that 
of Parima, is a tract of country periodically inundated, is placed between 
twenty and fifteen degrees of south latitude, and east of the country of the 
Moxos in Peru. Ribeiro set out on the twentieth December, in a brigan- 

* Herrern, Dec. 4, book 6. cli. iii. . 



ORELLANA'S ACCOUNT. 119 

tine, to the nation of the Xarayes, and was eighteen days going to them. 
When he arrived there, the chief came out and received him hospitably, 
and asked what he was in pursuit of; and he answered, gold and silver. 
Upon this, the chief gave him a few silver trifles and a little plate of gold, 
saying this was all he had, and he had won it of the Amazons — that it 
was a two months' journey to them, and to reach them then, would be 
impossible, as the country was inundated. This he did not regard ; but, 
obtaining from the chief, some Indians to carry the baggage of his com- 
pany, he set out on his march, and eight days they travelled through 
water up to their middle. They came to the Siberis, a tribe having the 
same language and customs as the Xarayes, who told them they would 
have four days more to travel through water, and then five by land, when 
they would reach the Urtueses. They proceeded, and on the ninth day 
came to this nation, who told them it was a month's journey to the land 
of the Amazons, and still through floods. But here they found an insu- 
perable obstacle. The locusts had for two succeeding years devoured 
everything in the country, and plague had followed the famine which they 
occasioned. No food was to be had. Here some Indians of the adjoining 
tribes came. They wore coronets after the fashion of Peru, and plates 
of a metal, which, in Ribeira's report, is called chafalonia. Of these 
people, the Spaniards renewed their inquiries respecting the Amazons. 
Ribeiro solemnly swears, that they told him of a nation of women, gov- 
erned by a woman, and so warlike as to be dreaded by all their neigh- 
bors ; they possessed plenty, both of the white and yellow metal • their 
seats and all the utensils in their houses were made of them. They lived 
on the western side of a large lake, which they called the Mansion of the 
Sun, because the sun sunk into it.* 

Another confirmation of the account of Orellana, was given by 
D'Acugna, who, a century after him, in 1639, descended the Amazon 
from Peru, in search of the country of gold, or El Dorado, as I have 
already related, and who expresses his belief, in the most positive manner, 
in the existence of this community of female warriors. 

" The proofs," he remarks, " that give assurance that there is a pro- 
vince of the Amazons on the banks of this river, are so strong and 
convincing, that it would be renouncing moral certainty to scruple 
giving credit to it. I do not build upon the solemn examinations of the 
sovereign court of Quito, in which many witnesses were heard, who 
were born in these parts, and lived there a long time, and who, of all 
matters relating to the countries bordering on Peru, as one of the princi- 
pal, particularly affirmed that one of the provinces near the Amazon is peo- 
pled with a sort of warlike women, who live together and maintain their 
government alone, without the company of men ; but at certain seasons 
of the year, seek their society to perpetuate their race. Nor will I insist 
on other information, obtained in the new kingdom of Grenada, in the 

* Scuthey's Hist, of Brazil, ch. vi. pp. 156—159. 



120 ELDORADO. 

royal city of Pasto, where several Indians were examined ; but I cannot 
conceal what I have heard with my own ears, and concerning the truth 
of which, 1 have been making inquiries from my first embarking on the 
Amazon ; and am compelled to say, that I have been informed at all the 
Indian towns in which I have been, that there are such women in the 
country, and every one gave me an account of them by marks so exactly 
agreeing with that which I received from others, that it must needs be 
that the greatest falsehood in the world passes throughout all America for 
one of the most certain histories. But the most distinct information of 
the province where they reside, and their customs, was obtained in the last 
village which makes their frontier town, between them and the Tupinam- 
bas. (The Tupinambas inhabit an island, which commences about two 
degrees below Rio Negro.) Thirty-six leagues below their last village, as 
you descend the river, another stream enters it from the north side, which 
comes from the very province of the Amazons ; which river is called 
Cunuris, from the Indians who dwell upon it nearest its mouth. 
Above them on it, are the Apotoos ; next to them, are the Tagaris ; 
and above these, are the Guacares, who are the people that have 
intercourse with these valiant women. These women are very coura- 
geous, and have always maintained themselves alone, without the 
help of men. When their neighbors visit them at a time appointed by 
them, they receive them with their bows and arrows in their hands, and 
exercise them as if about to engage with enemies ; but, knowing their 
object, they lay them down and receive them as their guests, who remain 
with them a few days. They never fail to make this visit once a year, 
at an appointed time. The children that are born from this yearly inter- 
course, if girls, are brought up by the mothers, and instructed by them in 
the use of arms, as well as inured to labor. As to the male children, it is 
not certain what they do with them. I saw an Indian, who told me that, 
when he was a child, he accompanied his father on one of these visits, 
and assured me that they gave their male children to their fathers on the 
next occasion of their visiting them. But the common report is, that they 
kill all their males as soon as they are born."* 

Another account of them was given by F. Cyprian Bazarre, a Jesuit 
missionary, at the close of the seventeenth century. He performed his 
labors among the Tapacuras, who formerly were part of the nation of the 
Moxos ; but dissensions among them induced them to separate and remove 
to a country about twenty leagues distant, toward a long chain of moun- 
tains — through whom he obtained some knowledge of the Amazons. They 
all informed him, that eastward was a nation of warlike women, who, at 
certain seasons of the year, admitted men among them, and killed all the 
males who were born, but brought up the females with the utmost care, 
and inured them early to the toils of war. The country where this 
writer was informed they were, to the eastward of the Moxos, was in the 

* Voyagts and Discoveries in Soutli America. By Christopher D'Acugna, Loudon, 1698. 



CONDAMINE'S ACCOUNT. 121 

direction in which Ribeiro, from the information he received, sought them 
from Paraguay.* 

The voyage made by Condamine down the Amazon, in 1744 and 1745, 
furnished another strong confirmation of the existence of such a commu- 
nity in South America. " He interrogated, he observes, in the course of 
his voyage, everywhere, Indians of different nations, and all told him that 
they had heard their fathers speak of them, adding a thousand particu- 
lars, all tending to establish the fact of there being in South America a 
republic of women, living without men ; and that they have removed to 
the north by the Rio Negro, or by some other northern branch of the Am- 
azon An Indian of St. Joachim told him, that he should, perhaps, 

find at Coari an old man, whose father had seen the Amazons. He learnt 
at Coari that he was dead ; but he spoke to his son Punilha, who appeared 
seventy years of age, and who commanded the other Indians of the same 
village. He assured him, that his grandfather had actually seen these 
women pass the mouth of the river Cuchivara ; that they came from the 
mouth of the Cayame, on the south side, between Tefe and Coari ; that he 
spoke to four of them, one of whom had a child at the breast, and men- 
tioned the name of each of them. He added, that in leaving Cuchivara, 
they crossed the Grand river and passed up the Rio Negro. Below Coari, 
the Indians everywhere told him the same things, with some variety in 
the circumstances, but all agreed in the principal point. Among the 
Topayos, he found certain green stones, known by the name of the Am- 
azon stone ; and they told him they inherited them of their fathers, and 
that those had them of the cougnan tainse couma ; that is to say, in their 
language, women without husbands, among whom, they add, they are found 
in great quantity. 

Thirty years after Condamine, (in 1774,) M. Ribeiro, a Portuguese 
astronomer, who traversed the Amazon and the tributary streams which 
run into it on the north side, confirmed, on the spot, all that he had ad- 
vanced.f He found a man who well remembered Punilha, who said 
that " he had heard the same account from him, (and he was a native of 
Cuchivara,) and affirmed that it was a received tradition there, that they 
had passed that place on their way to the north, as Condamine was 
informed." These accounts Ribeiro collected with so much more impar- 
tiality, as he expressly avows his disbelief of the existence of such a 
community in South America.:}: 

The account which Condamine gives of their having passed to the north, 
is confirmed by other travellers. D'Acugna, it has been seen, speaks of 
there being in his time, in the country north of the Amazon, on the river 
Cunuris, at the head of which are the Guacares, who are the nation 
that have intercourse with them. It is remarkable that Sir Walter Ra. 
leigh says, " there is a province in Guyana called Cunuris, which is 
governed by a woman." A more recent writer, Gili, a missionary on 

* Lockman's Traveb of the Jesuits. t Humboldt's Pers. Nar. t Soutliey's Hist, of Brazil. 



122 EL DORADO. 

the Oronoke, cited by Humboldt, makes the following most positive state- 
ment on this subject : " Upon inquiring of a Quaqua Indian, what 
Indians inhabited the Cuchivero, he named to me the Achirigotoas, the 
Pajuroas, and the Aikeambenanoes. Well acquainted with the Tamanae 
tongue, I instantly comprehended the sense of this last word, which is a 
compound, and signifies women living alone. The Indian confirmed my 
observation, and related that the Aikeambenanoes were a community of 
women, who fabricated long sarbacans and other weapons of war. They 
-admit, once a year, the men of the neighboring nation of Vokearoes into 
their society, and send them back with presents of sarbacans. All the 
male children born in this horde of women, are killed in their infancy."* 
These Vokearoes are, perhaps, the Guacares of D'Acugna. 

It thus appears that the relation made by Sir Walter Raleigh in his 
Narrative, of a report existing in South America, of a nation of female 
warriors there, has been confirmed in the amplest manner by various 
voyagers on the Amazon ; and by a missionary on the Oronoke, the 
river on which he obtained his information. It appears, also, that Con- 
damine, one of the relaters, places them in the same locality which he 
gives to them. " Their country," says Raleigh, " is on the south side of 
a river in the province of Tobago. They have a great quantity of plates 
of gold, which they obtain in exchange for certain green stones, which the 
Spaniards csd\ piedras hijadas, or spleen-stones." And Condamine remarks, 
" among the Topayos, (the river Topayos, which gives name to the people, 
falls into the Amazon on the south side, one hundred and fifty leagues 
above Para,) he found certain green stones, known by the name of the 
Amazon stone ; and that they had them of the Cougnantainsecouma, or 
women without husbands, among whom they are found in great quantity." 
Ribeiro, also, in his journey from Paraguay, was informed by the Xa- 
rayes, among whom he saw plates of gold, that " they obtained them from 
the Amazons :" and Raleigh says, " the Amazons received these plates 
of gold in exchange for their green stones." 

» Humboldt'* Pew. Nar. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SUBJECT OF THE AMAZONS CONTINUED — RELATIONS HEARD BY THE AU- 
THOR IN GUYANA, RESPECTING THEM OPINIONS OF DIFFERENT WRITERS 

ON THE SUBJECT ACCOUNT OF THE GREEN STONES, THEIR PECULIAR ORNA- 
MENT PROBABLE ORIGIN OF THIS NATION. 

The reader will, I have no doubt, be desirous to know, whether in 
Guyana — a country which the Oronoke and Amazon border, and into which 
such reports, if they existed, would unavoidably spread — they have at 
any time been heard. The subject did not escape my attention during 
my residence there, and I will state, with the utmost exactness, all that 
I learned on the subject. In perusing the Narrative of Raleigh, the ex- 
traordinary relation made by him, now under consideration, did not, at first, 
receive from me more than a passing notice ; having adopted the opinion 
of others, that it was a marvellous tale of the Indians, which he too readi- 
ly believed. None of the relations of a similar kind, by other travellers 
in South America, which have been mentioned, had been seen by me — 
although I was aware that Orellana had given the name of Amazon to 
the river discovered by him, from having heard, as he relates, that such 
a nation was upon it. At that time, however, I had in my possession the 
voyage of Condamine ; and in perusing it, was much struck with the 
positive manner in which he states having received accounts in various 
quarters of the existence of such a community on that river or its vicini- 
ty, and particularly, with the following passage, in which he assigns a 
locality to it, different from that before given. 

" An Indian of Mortigura, a mission near Para, offered to show him a 
river, by which he said ' one might ascend to a small distance of the 
country inhabited by the Amazons, 5 which he called ' the Irijo,' and which 
empties into the Atlantic, between Macapa and the North Cape, (this is a 
part of the coast between the Amazon and Cayenne ;) and an old soldier 
of the garrison at Cayenne, who was then living near the falls of the river 
Oyapoke, assured him that a detachment to which he belonged, sent into 
the interior to explore the country, in 1726, penetrated among the Ami- 
ouanes, or nation with long ears, who dwell above the sources of the 
Oyapoke, and near those of another river which passes into the Amazon ; 
and that there they had seen on the necks of their wives and daughters, 
the same green stones of which I have spoken ; and having asked the 
Indians where they obtained them, they answered, that ' they came from 
the women who had no husbands, and whose country was seven or eight 
days farther to the west.' " 



124 EL DORADO. 

1 "All these testimonies, and others, that I have omitted," adds Conda- 
mine, " as well as those of which mention is made, in the informations 
made in 1726, and since hy two Spanish Governors of the province of 
Venezuela, (Don Diego Portales and Don Francisco Torralva,) agree, in 
substance, upon the fact of the existence of these Amazons ; but, what 
deserves not less attention, is, that while these different relations designate 
the retreat of the Amazons, some toward the east, some toward the north, 
and others toward the west — all these different directions meet in one cen- 
tre, which is the mountains in the interior of Guyana ; and in a district 
where neither the Portuguese of Para, nor the French of Cayenne, have 
hitherto penetrated." * 

This account, pointing to a country in which I was then residing, could 
not fail strongly to arrest my attention, and to lead me to make some in- 
quiries on that subject, when a favorable opportunity occurred. The first 
which presented itself, was in the interview which I had with Mahanerwa, 
the Charibee chief, at the head of the Essequibo river, and none could be 
more suitable. The branch of the Charibees to which he belonged, he 
informed me, are the Teyrous (Tairas,) of Cayenne. He had a son living 
there, and a communication is maintained between the Charibees of that 
country and those on the Essequibo. I inquired of him whether he had 
ever heard of such a nation, to which he replied, as follows : " He had 
not seen them, but had heard his father and others speak of them. That 
they live on the Wasa. Their place of abode is surrounded with large 
rocks, and the entrance is through a rock. That when in their journeys 
they capture a man, they convey him home, and shut him up in a cabin, 
before the door of which they place a heap of sand, that it may be known 
if any one has entered it. If they discover him with a woman they kill 
him. That the Charibees on the river Mariwin are those who associate 
with them, whose name is Teyrous, (the branch to which his family be- 
long.") 

This relation of the Charibee chief is extremely interesting. The situ- 
ation of the river Wasa I did not inquire of him, but I was aware that it 
must be in Cayenne, from the Mariwin being stated to be near it. On 
examining, afterward, a map of Guyana, I found the river Ouassa (ac- 
cording to the French orthography,) to be actually a branch of the Oya- 
poke, on which river it was that the old soldier, who gave Condamine 
information of the Amazons, resided ; and who said they lived seven or 
eight days' journey west from the Amiouanes, or nation with long ears, 
who dwell above the sources of it. 

This nation, among whom the veteran saw the green stones, which the 
women without husbands wore, and who obtained them from them, it ap- 
pears, from the account of Harcourt's voyage to this river in 1608, were 
Charibees ; and who also states, that there was a great number of this 
great-eared nation on the Mariwin — and, again, that most of the Indians 
on this river were Charibees.f The account of Condamine thus agrees 

*C nodamine, pp. 102—103. t Purchas's Coll., Book VI., ch. xvi., p. 105 



OF THE AMAZONS. 125 

with the relation of Mahanerwa, that the Charibees of the Mariwin are 
the Indians who associate with the women without husbands. The sources 
of this river are in the same mountainous country in the interior of Ca- 
yenne, as those of the Oyapoke ; but by the turning of the coast, while the 
Mariwin flows from south to north, the Oyapoke runs from southwest to 
northeast. 

Arewya, the son-in-law of Mahanerwa, in a separate conversation I had 
with him, also said he had heard of this nation ; that the Charibees of Ca- 
yenne are the Indians with whom they associate, who visit them one by 
one ; that the entrance to their country is through an arched rock. I give 
this relation as I heard it. In the words of Martyr, I say, " hcec dant hcec 
accipito." But, although not vouching for its truth, I think it proper to 
add the following passage from the Mariwin Inquirer : " The pas- 
sage to the head of the Mariwin, from the men with long ears, (which 
is the thirteenth town from the mouth,) is very dangerous, by reason of the 
passage through hollow and concave rocks, wherein harbor bats of an 
unreasonable bigness, which, with their claws and wings, do wound the 
passengers shrewdly ; yea, and oftentimes deprive them of life. During 
which passage (which is some quarter of a mile, and very dark, for the 
rocks are close about and fashioned like an Indian house,) ihey are forced 
to make great fires in their canoes, and put over their heads some of their 
crab-baskets, to defend them from the force of their claws and wings. 5 '* 

On my return to the post, I conversed on the subject with the Indian 
agent, and he said there was certainly such a nation in the interior of 
British Guyana, within the limits of his agency, and that he once made a 
report of them to the Governor of the colony, and the number was about 
five hundred. His wife, who was present, added an account she had re- 
ceived of them from a Macoussie Indian, describing them, with many par- 
ticulars, but much in the same manner as other accounts of the Amazons, 
and who said their abode was at the sources of the Mazerouni, which are 
in the mountains of Parima. These accounts place them in a different 
locality. On passing down the river, I stopped at the plantation of Mr. 

De G , protector of the Indians — whose testimony I have once or twice 

produced on other subjects — and on stating to him what had been told me, 
and inquiring his opinion respecting it, he said he had been informed by 
an Indian, that such a nation exists somewhere in the interior of Cayenne ; 
that they are visited by men once a year ; their country is surrounded 
with rocks, and the entrance to it by a stream through an opening in them, 
by which you pass into a wide open country. This relation conforms to 
that heard by Condamine, and that given to me by the Charibee chief. 

I omit several other accounts I received of this nation, and will only 
mention the two following : 

A native of the country, partly of Indian extraction, residing on the 
Demerara river stated to me positively that such a people existed ; that 

* f urclius, Bou!; 0, c!i. xvii. 



126 EL DORADO, 

the brother of the relater had been to them many times, and once brought 
from them a green stone three inches in length ; that their name is Wiri- 
samoca ; they work their own grounds, shoot the bow and arrow, and use 
the blow-pipe, (sarbacan ;) hold no intercourse with other Indians ; their 
male infants they kill. They told him to tell the men of his nation and 
other Indians, that they might visit them once a year, but not more than 
twenty at a time. 

This account, it will be perceived, remarkably coincides with the rela- 
tions generally given of this community. But the most interesting fact 
in it is the name Wirisamoca, by which they are called, which was not 
translated for me ; but having previously made a vocabulary of the Chari- 
bee language, I found that woree, or wooresan, as I spelt the word, signi- 
fied in it women. In one prepared by Biet, in Cayenne, I find aunig to 
signify alone, and from the various modes in which a word is pronounced 
by different branches of this nation, amoc or amoca may be the same word ; 
and thus Wirisamoca would signify women alone, which is the same mean- 
ing as Aikeambenanoes, the name in the Tamanae tongue by which, Gili 
says, the Amazons, on the Cuchivero, are called. The particular locality 
of the Wirisamocas I did not inquire, but from the circumstance stated, 
that they use the blow-pipe, or sarbacan, it seems probable that it is in the 
mountains of Parima ; for these instruments are all obtained from the Ma- 
coussies, one of the tribes there, who ajre the sole manufacturers of them 
in British Guyana. This locality would agree with that mentioned to me 
as their residence at the Indian post, on the Essequibo. 

The other account, which I will relate, was received from a very diffe- 
rent source. Subsequent to this time, I was informed there was in the 
possession of a gentleman of Demerara, a journal made by a person who 
had resided some time in the far interior of the colony, among the Indian 
nations. I was desirous of seeing it, not with the least reference to the 
present subject, but from a wish generally to obtain some information of 
that unknown region. He was by name James Glenn, a native of Scot- 
land, and who had been a non-commissioned officer in the British army. 
He appears to have had some advantages of education, and had a taste 
for natural history. His journal is interspersed with remarks on subjects 
relating to it, and it was from that I obtained the Indian names for twenty- 
nine species of honey-bees in Guyana, which I have mentioned in my re- 
marks on lake Parima. Of this journal I had only a hasty perusal, on a 
visit I made to the gentleman who had it, and made but a few extracts 
from it. The following remarks respecting the Indians, which I took from 
it, I have thought worth presenting here, as connected with the fact I have 
just related, and as exhibiting the character of the writer. I copy them 
literally. 

" Of every circumstance attending these nations, nothing strikes me 
with more wonder and admiration than the difference of language ; for 
most of them are radically and essentially different even from their next 
neighbors, with whom they associate. Now, as to invent a language 



GLENN'S JOURNAL. 127 

exceeds the powers of the human mind, a question here naturally arises 
from whence comes this variety and difference of languages among tribes 
totally ignorant of letters ? for there is not an animal, vegetable, mineral, 
or meteor that they have not a name for ; if not a specific or distinct name, 
yet a name for the genus or kinds ; — but I defy Linnaeus or his disciples 
to specify animals, especially, more particularly and descriptive, than 
many, perhaps all, of these nations do. Europeans, or civilized nations, 
fall very far short of these Indian nations in this important article of natu- 
ral history ; that is, so far as their own clime and soil presents to their 
observation and experience." 

Another extract, which I made from his journal, was the following 
"List of nations which inhabit Guyana :" 

'•' On all the rivers emptying into the Atlantic, are the Warow, Arro- 
wack, Charibes, Ackoways, and several branches of the last. On the 
Oronoke, Mahanaos, Maipurian, Wyado, Dobuli, (Charibes,) Awani, Pa- 
rawyaddo, Akuriya, Kamoya, Waiki, Waikiri, Karianna." 

He then mentions the following nations as belonging to the Essequibo, 
by which, from comparing his list with other accounts, and his mention- 
ing some on other rivers, he must mean those which are nearer to it than 
the Oronoke. 

" Paramuna, ) , , c K , 

-rr '. } branches of Ackoways. 

Jvamaranai, ^ J 

Yakanaiama, on the Parima. 

Macoussie. 

Atorays. 

Arekuna, branch of Macoussies. 

Wapesana. 

Sapora, on the Parima. 

Quarin. 

Uresan. 

Quabianotto, (Portuguese) on the Karibis. 

Itali. 

Piannakotto, on the Karibisse, branch of the Corentine. 

Karayou. 

Makei." 

After this list, he makes the following remarks : 

" The last thirteen are mountaineers, dwelling in far among the high 
and rocky inlands. 

" Urisan and Utili, do never go to war. All the rest are warlike nations. 

" The Querin dwell on the very highest mountains ; are large and tall 
men, but hospitable and kind to friends. 

M The Urisan are all women — use bow and arrow like the other Indians. 
Their male infants they kill.'''' 

This passage, giving unexpectedly a further account of the nation of 
female warriors, greatly surprised me ; and the interest it produced., was 



128 EL DORADO. 

increased by the fact, that Urisan is, in the Charibee language, as I have 
already observed, women ; and this, the writer does not appear to be aware 
of. This nation is also introduced in the list in a simple, artless manner, 
without any reference to the reported Amazons. As it cannot be suppo- 
sed, therefore, that the name he gives to them was invented by him, the 
conclusion seems to be unavoidable — whether he saw the Urisans, or gives 
an account of them only on hearsay — that a nation denominated " the 
women," which must denote a community consisting entirely of females, 
was spoken of in that region by the Indians, as one of the tribes inhabit- 
ing it. 

In regard to their locality, it corresponds with that which was given to 
me at the Indian post, as the residence of "the women without husbands." 

A serious difficulty, however, exists, in crediting this and the other 
accounts which place this nation of " women alone" in the mountains 
of Parima, that Mahanerwa, the Charibee chief, did not mention them 
to me. This may perhaps be removed by the fact stated by James Glenn, 
that they dwell in " far among the high and rocky inlands ;" and it is 
evident, that the Charibee chief had no particular curiosity regarding 
" the Amazons ;" for, although he heard from his father of such a na- 
tion being in Cayenne, who associated with the same branch of the 
Charibees to which his family belonged, yet it appears he never made 
any inquiries about them. 

The different locations assigned to " the Amazons," by the several 
relations I have given — part placing them in the interior of Cayenne, 
and another in the mountains of Parima — is also a difficulty to over- 
come in crediting them. The discrepancy might produce a hesitation 
which to adopt, or lead to a conclusion that none of them should be 
relied on. As my purpose is not to prove the existence of such a com- 
munity, but in justification of Raleigh, to show that relations to that 
effect are heard in Guyana — which has, I believe, been fully accomplish- 
ed — the determination of these questions I might leave to the reader. 
I may add, however, that perhaps the nation related as being on the 
Oyapoke, in Cayenne, has removed, or, it is possible there may be two 
nations or companies of " the Amazons." From the explicit and decided 
testimony of Condamine, so particularly confirmed by the Charibee chief. 
it seems that it cannot be doubted, if such a nation exists anywhere, it 
is to be found in the interior of Cayenne — unless it has removed ; for 
this chief only spoke of them as existing there in the time of his father. But 
Gili, a missionary, heard of a nation of the same kind, on the Cuchi- 
vero, a branch of the Oronoke, and expresses his entire belief in its 
existence : and the learned author of Mithridates, thinks his testimony 
too strong to be rejected. May not the latter tribe have passed across 
Guyana to the region of Parima ? I have shown that several nations 
of the Oronoke, are probably now between the sources of the Branco 
and Essequibo. It is remarkable that the circumstance mentioned of 
the Wirisamocas, that they use long sarbacans, is also related of the 



OPINIONS OF SOUTHEY. 12£ 

Aikeambenanoes of Gili. Condamine also speaks of two branches, one- 
of whom as living at the sources of the Oyapoke, and the other as having 
crossed the river Amazon, and gone up the Rio Negro. 

In regard to the opinions which have been entertained by others, on the 
general subject of the existence of such a nation in South America, it 
lias been seen that Orellana, D'Acugna, and Condamine, not only in the 
most positive manner state that they heard accounts of the kind over and 
over again, but likewise avow their full belief in them. The latter, in 
addition to what I have before cited from him, remarks : " I am well 
aware that the Indians of South America are great falsifiers, credulous, 
fond of the marvellous ; but none of them had ever heard of the ancient 
Amazons of Diodorus and Justin — and this nation of women without hus- 
bands, was spoken of, among the Indians of South America, before the- 
Spaniards had penetrated there — and it has been mentioned since among- 
those who had never before seen Europeans, as is shown by the advice 
given by the Cacique to Orellana, as well as the traditions reported by 
D'Acugna and Baraze. Can it be believed, that savages of countries 
the most distant from each other, should have concurred in imagining- 
the same fact, without any foundation for ft-'; and that this pretended fable 
should have been adopted so uniformly, and so universally at Maynas, 
at Para, at Cayenne, and at Venezuela, among so many nations, and who 
have no intercourse together ?"* 

Other writers, who have commented on the testimonies produced by 
these voyagers, have likewise given their assent to the' conclusions they 
have drawn from them. Professor Vater, in his learned work Mithri- 
dates, inclines to the belief of the " Solle Donne," of Gili ; as he thinks 
his testimony is one which is not to be disregarded. Carli, an Italian 
writer, who has attentively examined American Antiquities, does not 
hesitate to express his entire belief in the existence of such a communi- 
ty. Southey, in his History of Brazil, thus expresses himself on the 
subject : " The testimony of Orellana and his Dominican vouchers, might 
be doubted ; but there is not the least reason for doubting the veracity 
of Acugna. He certainly heard what he has related. When Condamine 
came down the same river, in 1743, he omitted no opportunity of inquiring 
into the truth of the story. From all the various tribes along its course, 
he heard the same story, and all agreed that these women had retired 
up the country by the Rio Negro, or one of the streams which flowed in 
the same direction. These accounts agreed, from whatever quarter they 
came, in placing the Amazons in the heart of South America — which 
no Europeans had, at any time, explored. Other accounts, obtained 
afterwards, by two of the Governors of Venezuela, point to the same 
centre. "The reports which the Spaniards heard in Paraguay, assigned 
them a very different situation ; but it must be remembered, that if 
they removed from that situation to' the country which has since been 
represented as their abode, Cochinvara, where they are so positively 

* Condamine, p. 109. 

9 



130 EL DORADO. 

said to have been, is in the direct line of their emigration. The evidence 
in favor of the existence of this race of warlike women, is too strong 
and coherent to be lightly disbelieved. Had we never heard of the Ama- 
zons of antiquity, I should, without hesitation, believe in those of America. 
Their existence is not the less likely for that reason ; and yet it must 
be admitted, that the probable truth is made to appear suspicious by its 
resemblance to a known fable." This opinion of the celebrated writer, 
is entitled to greater weight, as it was prompted by no partiality to Sir 
Walter Raleigh, who, as has been seen, has received from him unquali- 
fied censure, in regard to his account of El Dorado. 

Another eminent writer, Humboldt, on a review of all the testimony 
on the subject, which had been published, has expressed a similar opinion ; 
which was not seen by me until two years after I received, in Guyana, 
the relations I have given. 

"We found," he observes, "in the possession of the Indians of the Rio 
Negro, some of those green stones, known by the name of the Amazon 
stones — because the natives pretend, according to an ancient tradition, 
that they came from the country of the women without husbands, (Coug- 
nan-tainse-couma,*) or women living alone, ( Aikeambenano.f ) The history 
of the jade, or green stones of Guyana, is intimately connected with that 
of the warlike women, whom the travellers of the sixteenth century na- 
med the Amazons of the New World. M. de la Condamine has produced 
many testimonies in favor of this tradition. Since my return from the 
Oronoke and the river Amazon, I have often been asked, at Paris, whether 
I embraced the opinion of that learned man. This is the place for 
me to express myself with frankness, on a tradition which has so ro- 
mantic an appearance — and I am farther led to do this, by M. de la 
Condamine's assertion, that the Amazons of the river Cayenne, crossed 
the Maragnon to establish themselves on the Rio Negro. A taste for 
the marvellous, together with a wish to adorn the descriptions of the new 
Continent with some features drawn from classic antiquity, has, no doubt, 
contributed to give great importance to the first narratives of Orellana. 

Sir Walter Raleigh had a less poetic aim. He sought to fix the atten- 
tion of Queen Elizabeth on the great empire of Guyana, the conquest of 
which he proposed to the Government. He gave the description of the 
rising of that gilded King, (El Dorado,) whose chamberlains, furnished 
with long sarbacans, blew powdered gold every morning on his body, 
after having rubbed it over with aromatic oils ; but nothing could be bet- 
ter adapted to strike the imagination of Queen Elizabeth, than the war- 
like republic of women, without husbands, who resisted the Castillian 
heroes. I point out the motives which led those writers, who have given 
most reputation to the Amazons of America, to exaggerate ; but these 
motives do not, I think, suffice, for rejecting a tradition entirely, which is 
spread among various nations who have no communication with each 
other. The testimonies collected by M. de la Condamine, are very 

* Of Condamine. t Of Gili. 



VARIOUS TESTIMONIES. 131 

remarkable. He has published them in detail, and I have a pleasure in 
adding, that if this traveller has passed in France and England for a man 
whose curiosity was most constantly awake, he is considered in Quito— 
in the country he described — as the traveller who has adhered most stead- 
fastly to truth. Thirty years after M. de la Condamine, a Portuguese 
astronomer, M. Riberio, who has traversed the Amazon and the tributary 
streams which run into that river on the northern side, has confirmed, on 
the spot, all that the learned Frenchman had advanced. He found the 
same traditions among the Indians ; and he collected them with so much 
the greater impartiality, as he did not himself believe that the Amazons 
formed a separate horde. Not knowing anything of the tongues spoken 
on the Oronoke and the Rio Negro, I could learn nothing certain on the 
popular traditions of women without husbands, and on the origin of the 
green stones. I shall, however, recite a testimony of some weight, that 
of Father Gili, (which I have already related.) "What must we con- 
clude from the narrative of the ancient missionary of Encaramada ? not 
that there are Amazons, on the banks of the Cuchivero, but that women 
in different parts of America, wearied with the state of slavery in which 
they were held by the men, united themselves together like the fugitive 
negroes in a palenque, (staccado ;) that the desire of preserving their 
independence, rendered them warriors ; and that they received visits from 
a neighboring and friendly horde, perhaps a little less methodically than 
tradition relates." [Pers. Nar., vol. 5.] 

In the remarks made in the above extract, on Sir Walter Raleigh, it is 
seen that Humboldt imputes to him a desire to exaggerate in the account 
he has given of this community. But I think it will appear on a more 
attentive examination, to be the most simple, artless, and unprejudiced 
of all the different narratives that have been made. No embellishment, 
or coloring, is given to it, no desire to assimilate them to the Amazons of 
antiquity. On the contrary, E,aleigh expressly disclaims the resemblance, 
adding : " that they cut off the right breast, I do not find to be true." And 
so far from expressing his positive belief in their existence, he merely 
states, that he relates what he had heard. "I made inquiry among the 
most ancient and best-travelled of the Oronokoponi, respecting these 
women, and will relate what I was informed of as truth about them, by 
a Cacique." 

Numerous, however, as the testimonies may be, in favor of a supposed 
fact, its character may be such as to give it so great a degree of improba- 
bility, that doubt will still attend it. The object of this examination being 
only to show that such relations have been made, and not to verify them — 
which it is believed has been sufficiently attained in the remarks already 
made — I might here close the subject ; but still it may be a matter of 
curiosity to inquire, whether the existence of such a community is so 
improbable, that no amount of evidence will render it credible ; or whether 
there are any circumstances which may have given rise to it. In ex- 
amining this subject, we are to view this nation as they are generally 



132 EL DORADO. 

represented by those who have spoken of it, divested of appendages 
which some have added to it — probably to assimilate them to the ancient 
Amazons — such as that of cutting off the right breast, and their living 
in a state of perfect separation from the other sex, and not that they asso- 
ciated with them only at periodical seasons. 

From the latter circumstance, attributed to them, Ribeiro, the Portu- 
guese astronomer, who has himself collected testimonies in support of 
their reality, considers the whole as a fable. He maintains, that 
no community of women could possibly be induced to live apart from 
men. But to this, Southey replies : " He must have studied history and 
observed mankind to little purpose, who has not learned, that political 
institutions, whatever may be their power of exalting human nature, are 
capable of moulding, perverting, and even extinguishing, its instincts. 
The argument also, if it were true — which I absolutely deny — would 
apply to the nunneries of his own nation — not to the Amazons who had, 
like birds, their yearly mating time." 

The account given by most of those who have spoken of them, is sim- 
ply this. There is on the river Amazon, or in Guyana, a nation of 
women, who use the bow and arrow, and other warlike weapons — culti- 
vate their grounds, and live separate from the other sex ; but are visited 
annually by the males of some particular tribe, with whom they associ- 
ate ; and that the daughters born, are brought up by them. In regard to 
the sons, the relations vary ; some saying they are killed, others, that 
they are given to their fathers. 

In regard to the different circumstances mentioned in this relation, some 
of them it will not be difficult to suppose real. 1. As to the warlike 
character of these females. This there can be no difficulty in giving 
credit to. Abundant testimonies can be produced to show, that this was 
the character of females in various nations of the new hemisphere. Co- 
lumbus, on his second voyage of discovery, encountered at St. Croix a 
canoe, in which, among the Indians, -were some women, who fought as 
well as the men. And at Guadaloupe, he saw on the beach an array 
of armed females, prohibiting his landing. Of these islands, and others 
inhabited by the same nation, Martyr remarks ; <c Roth sexes possess 
great power, from the use of the bow and poisoned arrows. When their 
husbands are at any time absent from their homes, their wives protect 
themselves from injurious aggressions, in a manly manner."* The fe- 
males of the continental Charibees, possessed the same character. The 
same writer observes, " in the bloody struggles which they made against 
the Spaniards, the women, after the death of their husbands, defended 
themselves with such desperation that they were taken for Amazons. "f I 
was informed, on the Essequibo river, that in the wars which the Chari- 
bees of that river formerly carried on, their wives accompanied them, and 
not only used the bow and arrow, but also the war-club. 

* Herreva, Dec. 3. f Herrera, Dec. 1, book iii., ch. i. 



VARIOUS TESTIMONIES. 133 

2. In regard to their cultivation of the ground. To this employment, 
females universally, among the native tribes both of North and South 
America, are trained. It is their appropriate and exclusive province. On 
their labors in the fields, the whole tribe relies for a supply of the pro- 
ductions of the earth. With the cultivation of them, the men have no 
concern ; whose duties are confined to the procural of game, by hunting 
and fishing. The only circumstance in the above account which is of a 
marvellous character, and difficult to be believed, is, that this tribe of 
females should prefer to live separate from the other sex, as an inde- 
pendent nation, and resolutely oppose uniting with them, though they 
allowed of occasional visits from them, to perpetuate their community. 
The following explanation has been given of it by several writers: "The 
existence of such a tribe," says Southey, " would be honorable to our 
species, inasmuch as it must have originated in resistance to oppression. 
The lot of women is usually hard among savages. The females of one 
horde may have perpetrated what the Danaides are said to have done be- 
fore them, but from a stronger provocation ; and if, as is not unfrequent, 
they had been accustomed to accompany them to battle, there is nothing 
that can even be thought improbable to their establishing themselves as 
an independent race ; and securing, by such a system of life, that free- 
dom for their daughters, which they had obtained for themselves." 

This explanation, it has been seen, has also been given by Humboldt J 
Condamine, before, took the same view. " All," he observes, " that is 
necessary to establish is, the existence in America of' a tribe of women, 
who never had any men living in their society. The other customs, par- 
ticularly that of cutting off the breast, which d'Acugna attributes to them, 
are accessory circumstances, which have probably been altered or added 
by Europeans, to assimilate them to the Amazons of Asia. . . In fact, it is 
not said that the Cacique, who informed Orellana of the Amazons, whom 
he calls Coniapuyaras, mentioned the exscinded breast ; and an Indian 
of Coari, whose grandfather saw four Amazons, one of whom had an 
infant at her breast, does not speak of this circumstance, too striking not 
to be remarked. If the impossibility of their existence is alleged, I will 
content myself with remarking, that if ever there could have been Ama- 
zons in the world, it is in America, where the women follow their hus- 
bands to war ; and being not happier at home, the idea may have been 
suggested to their minds, to whom frequent opportunities offered, to shake 
off the yoke of their husbands, and seek to form an establishment where 
they might recover their independence, and at least not be reduced to the 
condition of slaves and beasts of burden."* 

Another reason may be given for the existence of such a community. 
When a tribe engaged in war was conquered, and the males all slain ; 
their wives, who accompanied them., and were accustomed to the use of 
arms, may have rallied, returned upon the foe, repulsed them, and con- 
tinued ever after an independent horde. 

* Condamine, pp, 106 — 108. 



134 EL DORADO. 

But, although both these explanations may be sufficient to explain the 
origin of such a tribe, some other reason must be found to account for the 
fact of their never having been subdued by any other nation, but suffered 
to remain in their separate state — particularly as to those reported to be 
now in Guyana, that they have not been conquered and their community 
broken up by the Charibees, a nation whose warlike spirit prompted them 
to the subjugation of all the tribes around them, wherever they extended 
themselves — among whom polygamy prevails — who pride themselves on 
the number of their wives, and whose wars are frequently undertaken to 
obtain an addition to them. Yet it is with this very nation, as the Chari- 
bee chief on the Essequibo stated, that they associate. 
I A solution of this singular circumstance — if in reality such a nation 
exists — will, I believe, be found in those green stones which they possess. 
I have observed, that Humboldt found them among the Indians on the Rio 
Negro. " They are worn there," he says " suspended from the neck as 
amulets ; because, according to popular belief, they preserve the wearer 
from nervous complaints, fevers, and the sting of venomous serpents. 
Thus they have been for ages an article of trade, both on the north and 
on the south of the Oronoke. The Charibees made them known on the 

coast of Guyana The form given to them most frequently, is that 

of the Persapolitan cylinder, longitudinally perforated, and loaded with 
inscriptions and figures. The substance of which they are composed, be- 
longs to the saussurite — to the real jade. It takes a fine polish and passes 
from apple green to emerald green. It is translucent at the edges, ex- 
tremely tenacious, and sonorous to such a degree, that being formerly 
cut by the natives into very thin plates, perforated at the centre and sus- 
pended by a thread, it yields an almost metallic sound." 

These green stones are also -»vom by the Charibees, and arc the most 
highly valued of all their ornaments. They were formerly frequently 
met with in Demerara, but now rarely ; where they were called Macua- 
ba, or Calicot stone. One of them is in my possession. Their common 
form there is, as described by Humboldt, cylindrical and perforated. Biet 
relates, that in Cayenne a number of them are strung together and worn 
as a necklace. But they are sometimes made in the form of fishes and 
other animals ; and we now discover whence they were obtained. But 
where did the women living alone obtain them ? " We are told," says 
Humboldt, " at San Carlos, on the Rio Negro and in the neighboring vil- 
lages, that the sources of the Oronoke east of Esmeralda ; and in the 
missions of the Caroni and at Angustura, that the sources of the Caroni 
are the native spots of the green stone."* Both these directions point to 
the mountains of Parima, where two of the relations made to me respect- 
ing this female nation, place them. Humboldt again observes : " In the 
rocky dike that crosses the Oronoke, forming the Randal of the Guaha- 
riboes, Spanish soldiers pretend to have found the fine kind of saussurite 
(Amazon stone) of which we have spoken. This tradition is, however, 

* Humboldt's Pers. Nar. vol.5, p. 306. 



THE GREEN STONE. 135 

uncertain ; and the Indians whom I interrogated on this subject, assured 
me that the green stones, called piedras de macagua at Esmeralda, were 
purchased from the Guiacas and Guaharibos who traffic with the hordes 
much farther to the east;" (which must be the nations about the sources 
of the Essequibo.) 

It is worthy of remark, that the name of these stones on the Oronoke is 
macagua, and in Demerara, macauba — which is probably the same word. 
But the region of Parima does not appear to be the native place of this 
mineral. Humboldt observes, that " neither Surgeon Hortsman, who pas- 
sed from the Essequibo down the Braneo, nor Don Antonio Santos, who 
went from Spanish Guyana over it to the Amazon, had seen it in its natural 
place. ... A fine geographical discovery remains to be made in the east- 
ern part of America ; that of finding, in a primitive soil, a rock of eu- 
photide, containing the piedras de macagua." 

But should this discovery be made, a difficulty would still exist — how it 
was worked into so many different forms ? "It is not," observes Hum- 
boldt, " the Indians of our day, the natives of the Oronoke and Amazon, 
whom we find in the last degree of bai'barism, that pierced such hard 
substances, giving them the form of animals and fruits. Such works, like 
the perforated and sculptured emeralds which are found in the Cordilleras 
of New-Granada and Quito, denote anterior civilization."* 
i Among the natives themselves, wherever these green stones are found, 
a very singular popular delusion prevails as to their origin. " I have 
been assured," says Barrere, " that a nation called Tapouyes, who live 
one hundred and fifty leagues ahnve Para, on the Amazon, make them ; 
(the same nation from whom, according to Condamine, they are obtained,) 
that the material is a soft mud, of white color, which they work into a 
paste, and give it the figure and impression they desire. They keep the 
articles prepared for a certain time in the river. It is this water, they say, 
which gives the color, hardness, and polish to these stones." The same is 
stated by the Chev. des Marchais.f The greatest riches of the Galibis 
consists in necklaces of green stone, which come from the river Amazon, 
which is made of a mud they find at the bottom of certain places in the 
river ; and they make it into what forms they please. And Charlevoix 
speaks of a green stone with which the Haytians hollowed out their 
canoes ; and remarks, there never have been found in that island or else- 
where, quarries of this stone ; and the common opinion is, that they came 
from the river Amazon, the mud of which hardens, when exposed to the 
air."$ 

Humboldt, having stated that a mineral of this kind has nowhere yet 
been found in Guyana, observes : " Although a distance of five hundred 
leagues, separates the banks of the Amazon and Oronoke from the Mex- 
ican table-land ; although history records no fact, that connects the savage 
nations of Guyana with the civilized nations of Anahuac ; the monk Ber- 
nard de Sahagun, at the beginning of the conquest, found green stones 

* Humboldt's Per. Nar. vol. 5„ p. 463. t Trav. in Cayenne, £ J History of St. Domingo. 



] 36 EL DOr.ADC. 

which bad belonged to Quetzaicoati, preserved at Cholula as relics. 
This mysterious personage is the Buddha of the Mexicans. He appeared 
in the time of the Toltecs ; founded the first religious congregations ; 
and established a government similar to that of Meroe and of Japan." 

Concerning these green stones of Mexico, I have collected the follow, 
ing additional facts : 

They are, according to Clavigero, the same mineral as those of 
Guyana. The Mexican name is Quetzalitzli ; but they are commonly 
known by the name of the nephritic stone. The Mexicans formed of this 
mineral various and curious figures, some of which are preserved in 
different Museums in Europe.* The Mexican jewellers not only had 
skill in gems, but likewise understood how to polish, cut, and work them ; 
and made them into whatever form they chose. The green stone which 
I brought from Guyana, a scientific person in New- York, to whom I 
showed it, said, was the mineral " nephritic-jade. : ' 

Quetzaicoati was, among the Mexicans, and all the other nations of 
Anahuac, the god of the air. At Cholula, two lofty pyramids were 
erected ; one, to him or the Sun, with which he was identified ; the other, 
to the Moon. The Cholulans preserved with great veneration some small 
green stones, very well cut, which they said had belonged to him.f 
Torquemada, who perfectly understood the Mexican language, and had 
those names repeated to him by the ancient people, says that the name 
of this deity signifies, " serpent clothed with green feathers." " In fact," 
says Clavigoro, " coaii cignifipt! serpent, and quetzalli, green feathers.^ 
Quetzalitzli was the name of theao Gtonoc Ttxli, i«, in Mexican, stone. 
Hence, this word signifies green stones ; or, by contraction, stones dedi- 
cated to, or belonging to, Quetzaicoati. Thut the mineral, of which they 
are made, was found in Mexico, appears probable, from the following pas- 
sage from the same author : " With respect to precious stones in Mexico, 
there were, and still are, diamonds, though few in cumber ; amethysts, 
turquoises, cornelians, and some green stones resembling emeralds, and 
not much inferior to them ; and of all these stones, the Mixtecas, Zapo- 
tecans, and Cohuxians, in whose mountains they were found, paid a 
tribute to the King."§ 

Green stones and green feathers, appertained, also, to the worship of 
Quetzaicoati. " The usual ministers," observes Clavigero, " of the Mex- 
ican sacrifices, which were made to this deity, were six priests ; the chief 
of whom, in the performance of his functions, wore a crown of green and 
yellow feathers ; at his ears, hung gold ear-rings and green jewels ; per- 
haps emeralds. || 

Why the color of green was appropriated to this deity, it is not difficult 
to explain, as the effect of the heat and light of the sun is to promote veg- 
etation, and clothe the earth with verdure. 

* Hist, of Mexico, vol. 1, p. 22. t Oavigero's Hist, of Mexico, vol. 2, pp. 11—14. 

t Clavigero, vol. 2, p. 14.— Note. & Clavigero, vol. 2, pp. 21. II Clavigero, vol. 2, p. 62. 



THE GREEN STONE. 137 

The green stones of Guyana, are also held in the highest estimation. 
They appear, even, to be of a sacred character ; " for they are covered," 
says Humboldt, " with inscriptions and figures ;" an idea which is sup- 
ported by the fact, that they are everywhere worn as amulets — from an 
opinion that they are a preventive of epilepsy, and some other disorders. 
For this reason, they are called by the Spaniards piedras-hejadas, or 
spleen-stones. The same opinion of them existed among the inhabitants 
of the West India islands, where they were found among the Charibees. 
Labat, who was a missionary among them, has even in a measure as- 
sented to this opinion. " It is not true," he says, " that they cure these 
disorders radically ; but that they suspend them as long as they are worn 
by the person, placed between the skin and the flesh," he was convinced 
of by an actual experiment he made. 

They were held by the Charibees in the highest regard. They were 
the most precious of their jewels. " They valued them," says Barrere, 
"more than we do gold or diamonds. The females believed themselves 
best arrayed, when they had several of them on. A necklace was the 
price of a slave." Sir Walter Raleigh met with them on the Oronoke, and 
observes, " Every King, or Cacique, had one, which their wives, for the 
most part, wear; and they esteem them as great jewels." These green 
stones were used in Guyana also, as a medium of exchange ; for Law- 
rence Keymis, speaking of the Charibees, and some other Indians on the 
Arawari river, below the Oyapoke, observes, " All their money is of white 
and green stones;" and when at the Corentine, he remarks, "some 
images of gold and spleen-stones, are found along this coast ; and the In- 
dians do extraordinarily esteem them, for everywhere they are current 
money."* 

The inquiry now arises, in what manner did these green stones find 
their way into Guyana? Humboldt, it has been seen, considers the 
existence of them in this region very difficult to be accounted for, as his- 
tory records no fact, that connects the savage nations of Guyana with the 
civilized nations of Anahuac, (the ancient name of Mexico.) 

But, although the derivation of any of the nations of Guyana, has not 
been heretofore traced to Mexico — yet, as the ancient people of Peru, 
according to Garcillaso, and those of New-Grenada, as related by Her- 
rera, came from it through the Isthmus of Darien; it is very probable, 
that some of the nations of Guyana, as well as those of other parts 
of South America, flowed from the same source. I have, at least, satis- 
fied myself, that the Charibees — who are the most numerous and predom- 
inant nation of Guyana — had this origin ; part of them spreading along 
the coast of Terra Firma, while another portion, probably, moved south- 
wardly into New- Grenada, and thence, by some of the streams that flow 
south-eastwardly from the Andes, passed to the Amazon, and descended 
that river to its mouth ; and then spead over Cayenne, and into the 
Brazils. These green stones may, therefore, have been brought into 

* Cayley's Life of Raleigh, vol. 2, p. 360. 



139 EL DORADO. 

Guyana by them, or other nations, who may have come there from the 
same region. But it is a more probable supposition, that they were brought 
from Mexico by the Amazons themselves, who may have been established 
some time in New-Grenada, before their final emigration into Guyana. 
To this conclusion, I think, we shall be led, by an examination of the 
question — whence it arises, that they are their peculiar ornaments and 
jewels, and are always obtained from them ? And the answer to this 
question, will also explain the principal difficulty, in regard to the exist- 
ence of this nation' — why they have been suffered by the Charibees to 
remain in their state of separation from the other sex. I think the cir- 
cumstance of their having these jewels, and wearing them as their pecu- 
liar ornaments, denote that they were originally attached to the worship 
of the Mexican divinity — to whom they were dedicated ; that they were 
once a religious community of vestals, devoted to the service of the 
temples appropriated to his honor ; that they are hence viewed by the 
Charibees emigrating from the same region, with feelings of reverence ; 
and that it is from a sentiment of religion, and traditional ideas, that they, 
and other nations, suffer them to remain in their state of isolation. 
• This conjecture is supported by the following fact, related in Orellana's 
account of his Amazons. The last report which he heard of them, he 
gives as follows : " An Indian whom he had taken prisoner, informed him 
that the country was subject to women, who lived like Amazons, and were 
very rich in gold and silver, and had five temples of the Sun, plated 
with gold, &c." Allowing for much exaggeration in this account, there 
is nothing improbable in the fact stated, that they, like other Indians on 
the Amazon, had gold ornaments. In regard to the temples, plated with 
gold — it may only have been that they had gold plates hung up in them ; 
that is, these ornaments ; as a similar ambiguity in the word, as I have 
observed, perhaps gave rise to the idea of golden tiles on the roofs of the 
houses in Manoa. It is remarkable that this ambiguity has led Humboldt 
into a mistake regarding the Amazons of Guyana. He represents them 
as described by Raleigh, as having golden vessels, (out of which it was 
probably supposed they took their meals,) which they received in traffick 
for these green stones ; while Raleigh actually says, " they have a great 
quantity of those plates of gold, (which he had before mentioned as gol- 
den ornaments, in the form of a crescent,) which they obtain in exchange 
for a certain kind of green stones." 

The relation of Orellana is further rendered not so improbable, from 
the following account given by George de Espira, one of the adventurers 
who went in pursuit of El Dorado. He relates, that after leaving Coro 
and proceeding southerly, he crossed the Meta, then arrived on the banks 
of the Caqueta, or Yupura, which falls into the Amazon some degrees 
west of the Rio Negro ; — the space between which and the latter river, as 
has been related, from the existence of native gold there, D'Acugna and 
Condamine both consider the locality to which the first expeditions in 
pursuit of Dorado, or the golden country, were directed. Near this river 



ORIGIN OF THK AMAZONS. 139 

Caqueta, or Yupura, Espira found a Casa del Sol, or temple of the sun. 
and a convent of Virgins, similar to those of Peru and New-Grenada. 

It would not be extraordinary, if, on the conquest of those countries, 
and the emigration of the Indians consequent upon it, some of the vestal 
communities connected with the religious establishments there, after their 
destruction, should have also transplanted themselves. 

The following relation, too, favors the idea of the religious character of 
the reported Amazons. " Orellana," says M. Cai'li, (Lettres Americaines) 
" though generally thought so, was not the first who gave an account of 
the Amazons. Nugno de Gusman sent to Charles V. a relation, dated 
July 8th, 1530, at Omitlan, in which, among other things, he says, that 
he has a design to penetrate in the province of Azatlan, to pass into the 
country of the Amazons, who, he said, lived ten days farther. Some 
say that they live on the sea ; others, that they are on an arm of it, and 
that they are regarded as goddesses. They are said to be whiter than 
the other women of the country. The other particulars as to their war- 
like character, &c, are the same as those usually given.* 

And the name by which Orellana heard them called when he first 
heard of them, Coniapuyara, which signified great ladies, denotes that 
they were much respected, and considered as a community of a superior 
order. It was not applied to a few, or the Queens among them, but to the 
whole nation. 

Martyr, also, relates the following instance of females living in this 
manner, as a religious community, on the coast of Yucatan : " Grijalva, 
sailing along this coast, came to a bay, in which were three small islands, 
in which sacrifices were made to great extent, which he called the 
islands of Sacrifices. There were other islands on the neighboring 
shores, in which only women lived, without intercourse with men. Some 
think they live in the manner of the Amazons. Those who have consid- 
ered the matter best, supposo them tn. he virgins, dedicated to religious 
services, as nuns, or as the vestals among the Romans. At certain sea- 
sons of the year, they are visited by men, solely to prepare their fields 
and gardens for them. It is reported, also, that there are other islands 
inhabited by women, who exscind the right breast, that they may the bet- 
ter use the bow and arrow ; and that they are visited by men, who have 
intercouse with them, but do not keep the male children. But this," says 
Martyr, " I think a fable. "f 

Connected with the view I have taken of the probable origin of the 
Amazons from Mexico, is very interesting, and is rendered more so by 
the following fact, stated by Herrera : 

James Lopez de Salvado, having been sent over from Spain to govern 
at Ybuerras, on the coast of Honduras, found, that in those parts, there 
were three principal idols worshipped in their several temples, and four 
leagues from Truxillo another, in a town twenty leagues distant, and the 

* Vol. 1. pp. 433-434. t Decade, 4th. 



140 EL UUK.A1JO. 

third in an island fifteen leagues from that town. They had all the shape 
of women, made of a green sort of stone like marble.* 

One of the islands in the West Indies, belonging to the Charibean 
group, is also stated by the early writers, to have been inhabited, at the 
period of their discovery by Columbus, solely by women. His son Fer- 
dinand, his biographer, observes, the Indians whom Columbus saw on the 
north coast of Hayti, (on his return to Europe in his first voyage,) being 
asked where the Charibees dwelt, pointed to the eastward ; and said, that 
the island Matinino was all inhabited by women, with whom the Chari- 
bees cohabited at certain seasons of the year ; and if they brought forth 
sons, they gave them to the fathers to carry away.f 

And Columbus himself relates the same, in the letter he wrote to his 
royal patrons from Lisbon, on his return to Europe, giving an account of 
his discoveries.:}: " The islanders of Charis, next to Hispaniola, (which was 
St. Croix) he observes, are considered by their neighbors very ferocious, 
and are objects of great terror to them. They cohabit with a race of 
women, who are the sole inhabitants of another island, immediately suc- 
ceeding Hispana. These women are not employed in the common occu- 
pations of their sex, but, like their husbands, carry bows and arrows, and 
are protected with plates of brass, with which their country abounds." 

Martyr relates, that Columbus heard of them also on his second voyage. 
On this voyage he first visited Guadaloupe, and thence sailed toward Mar- 
tinique, which, says Martyr, the Indians he had on board, whom he had 
taken to Spain on his first voyage, as well as some who had fled to him at 
Guadaloupe from the Charibees, called Madaninna, and said it was inhabit- 
ed solely by women, — as we heard on the first voyage — who were visited 
at a certain time of the year by the Cannibals, (the Charibees) and the sons 
born, sent to them to be brought up ; but they retained the daughters with 
them. They are said to have subterranean retreats, to which, if the can- 
nibals visit them at any other time than the stated period, they fly ; and if 
their pursneias attempt to enter them, they protect themselves with their 
arrows, which they shoot with great dexterity. § 

These relations have been considered, by some historians, entirely fabu- 
lous tales received from the Indians. A late writer thinks that the idea 
of such a female nation in that island, arose from the circumstance that 
the wives of the Charibees, were taught the use of the bow and arrow, and, 
in the absence of their husbands, were accustomed to defend themselves 
from the attacks of enemies. || But the relation by Martyr represents this 
nation as living entirely distinct from men, and with all the circumstan- 
ces mentioned of the Amazons, as they are called, of South America. 

Concerning the question of the existence of such a nation in the West 
Indies, but a single remark is necessary. If the accounts given by the 
natives of South America, of a similar community on that Continent, are 

r * Decade 3. book 3, ch. iii. t Chap xxxvi, p. 46. in Churchill's Collection. 

J This Letter is found in the Edinburgh Review, No. liv., Dec. 1816. § Decade, 1. 

II lrving's Life of Columbus. 



ORIGIN OF THE AMAZONS. Hi 

to be entirely discredited, the relations made to the early voyagers to the 
West Indies, respecting the inhabitants of Martinique, must be equally 
discarded. But if the evidence in favor of the existence of the former is 
too strong to be resisted, we cannot totally deny the reality of the latter. 
Indeed, if it is true that Guyana is the residence of the Amazons, and the 
Charibees are their mates or associates, it would seem not improbable, on 
the emigration of the Charibees to the islands, that some of them would 
accompany them, and maintain there the same state of society that previ- 
ously belonged to them.* 

* Appeaiis, No. IV. 



THE END. 



APPENDIX NO. I 



Relation of the Mariwin Inquirer, from Purchas's Collection of Voyages, Book 
6, Chapter xvii. entitled, "Relation of the habitations, and other observations 
of the river Marwin," and which is placed immediately after the voyage made by 
Robert Harcourt to Guyana, in 1608. 

■ Purchas states in the margin : « I found this fairly written among M. Hack- 
luyt's papers, but know not who was the author." But that it was made by 
Fisher, called by Harcourt his " Cousin Fisher," whom he sent to explore the 
Mariwin, there can be no doubt, on comparing some passages in the account of 
the voyage of the former, with a part of the Relation. 

Harcourt, on returning down the Mariwin, after his unsuccessful attempt to ex- 
plore it, stopped at the third town from the mouth, of which Maperitaka and Ara- 
pawako were chief captains, and then observes : " At this town I left my cousin 
Fisher, an apothecary, and a servant to attend him, having first taken order with 
Maperitaka for their diet and other necessaries, both for their travel and otherwise, 
who ever since, according to his promise, hath performed the part of an honest 
man and faithful friend. " Of the information given by Fisher, he gives the following 
account : " When the waters of the Mariwin rose, and the river became passable* 
he began the discovery thereof, in company of the apothecary, the Indian Maperitaka, 
and eighteen others ; and proceeded eleven days up the river, to a town of Chari- 
bees, called Taupuremune, distant from the sea above a hundred leagues, but was 
four days' short of Moresheego, which is also a town of the Charibees— the chief 
captain thereof is Areminta. He understood, by the relations of the Indians of 
Taupuremune and also of Areminta, that six days' journey beyond Moresheego, 
there are divers mighty nations of Indians, having holes through their ears, cheeks, 
nostrils, and nether lips, (whose names are mentioned,) and were, of strength and 
stature, far exceeding other Indians. What the Indians report of the greatness 
of their ears, I forbear to mention, until by experience we shall discover the truth 
thereof. That it was twenty days' journey from Taupuremune to the head of 
Mariwin, which is inhabited by Arawacas, Suppaios and Paragolas, and some Yai- 
os; and thai a day's journey from thence to the landward, the country is a plain 
and champaign ground, covered with long grass." 

The following is an extract from the " Relation," &c. which I term that of the 
Mariwin Inquirer : 

TOWNS ON THE MARIWIN. 

" Imprimis : Maracoun, a little village, so called, where the Arawacas dwell, 
&c. Secondly, a little village, so called, where likewise Arawacas dwell, &c. 
Thirdly, Moyyen, &c, lately inhabited by Pariawagottos and Yaios, whose chief 



144 APPENDIX. 

captain is Maperitaka, being the captain with whom the General left us, and with 
whom ice continue." He then mentions eleven towns in succession, all inhabited 
by Charibees, the last of which is Tapouremee. He then continues : "Twelfthly. 
A day's journey from thence, is a town called Mooreshego, whose inhabitants are 
Charibees. About some twenty days' journey from Mooreshego, is a town called 
Aretonenne, whose Inhabitants be Careebees, having verie long ears hanging to 
their shoulders, and they are reported to be a very gentle and loving people. 
Some tivenly days farther is the head of the River Marwin, where dwell Pariawagot- 
tvs, Arwaccas, and Suppay, and after a day's journey in the land, they report the 
way to be very fair and champaign ground with long grass." 

A further evidence that this is the journal of Fisher, is, that it principally con- 
sists of an account of "Manoa," spoken of by Sir Walter R..leigh, which is the 
information that he was particularly directed by Harcourt to obtain — as will appear 
by the following extract from it, which is the part from which I have made my 
quotations in the text : 

"I was also informed by a Yaio, an ancient man, who came down the river Se- 
linama (Surinam,) in a little canoe, with four others and a boy, (three of which 
were Arrawacs, and one Yaio, who was born in Orenoq, and, as I judge, about 
four-score years or little less,) who reported to me that he was one of them which, 
with Morequito and Putimay, was present at the killing of nine Spaniards and a 
Spanish Pedas, and how Morequito was put to death, and a great many of his 
Indians hanged. Himself was taxen prisoner, and pinched with pincers for his 
punishment, and his ears nailed to wood, which I conjecture was a Pillourie. . . . 
. . . The reason why they put him not to death, was because he had been a great 
traveller, and knew the countries well ; and so they kept him for a guide. 

" It so chanced that the Spaniards, after his informing them of the Cassipagotos 
country, and how rich they were, ami how he would be their guide, went with 
some companie to conquer it. The captain of the Spaniards was called Alexander, 
as he saith. But the Cassipagotos, knowing his crueltie, thought it better to fight 
it out than to trust to his clemency, and so overthew him and his companie, driving 
them to their canoes : in which fight he escaped. But yet afterward, it was his 
mishap to be again in the hands of his adversarie, by the means of Caripana, 

King of Emeria, and put in chains and handled cruelly Within some small 

space, he, with another Yaio and three Arawaccas, were chosen to goe a-fishing 
some two days' journey from the town. Likewise, there went as overseers over 
them four Spaniards ; thre^ of which, while they were a-fishing, went into the 
woods a-fowling, and the fourth, which was left for the overseer, by chance fell 
asleep ; which they espying, agreed to release themselves, and to slip from the 
shore with their ca oes, and went up Selinama, seven days' journey from the 
head there jf, to a town of the Aiwaccas, called Coorcopan, where he now dwelleth. 

And his name is Weepackea This Yaio told me of a mountain r <X the head 

of Dissikeebee, which is called Oraddoo, where is a great rocke of white spar, 
which hath streams of gold in it about the breadth of a goose-quill ; and this he 
affirmeth very earnestly. Also, he speaketh of a plaine which is some seven or 
eight days' journey from the mountaine, where is great store of gold, in grains as 
big as the top of a man's finger, and after the floods be fallen they find them ; 
which plaine is called Mumpara. 

" Further, he spoke of a vail )y not far disu.nt .rom thence, which is called Wan- 
coobanona, which hath the like ; and he said they gather them the spn.?e of two 
moneths together ! which two moneths are presently after the great raines which 
wash away the sand and gravel from the grasse, which groweth in tuffets, and 



APPENDIX 145 

then they may perceive the gold lie glistering on the ground. And of these they 
are very charie ; and the captains and priests, or pecays, doe charge the Indians 
very strictly, yea, with punishment of the whip, that they be secret and not re- 
veale it to the Spaniards. But it seemeth they are willing the English should 
have it, or else he would not have related so much of the state of his countrie. 

" He spake very much of Sir Walter Raleigh. He likewise knew Francis Spar- 
row and the boy which Sir Walter left behind him at Topiaiwari his house. He 
fti her said, that Topiaiwari wondered that he heard not from Sir Walter, according- 
to his promise ; and how Topiaiwarie did verily thinke that the Spaniards had met 

with him and slaine him He likewise said how Topiaiwary had drawn in 

the Indians of Wariwackeri, Amiariocopana, Wickeri, and all the people that be- 
longed to Wanuritone, Captaine of Canuria, and Wacariopea, Captaine of Sayma, 
against Sir Walter his coming, to have warred against the Yeanderpureweis ; and 
as yet Wanuretone and Wacariopea do expect his coming. He added, further, 
how he knew the two nations of Tivitivas, called Ciawani and Warawitty, who 
are forced in the floods to build their houses on the top of trees. And now, he 
saith, the Spaniard hath for the most part destroyed them, keeping divers of them 
to make and mend his canoes. Further, he knew Toparimaca, and sayth he is 
yet living and Captaine of Arawaca, a Napoy, who likewise doth expect Sir 
Walter his coming, and had drawn a company of Indians for the aide and assist- 
ance of Sir Walter. Likewise, how Putimay is yet living, and how the Spaniards 
have laid great waite for him, but could never finger him, to be revenged for his 
part of killing the nine Spaniards. Further, he addeth, how the Spaniards were 
killed at a mountain called Riconeri, in Putimay's countrie ; and how Putimay 
expected long for Sir Walter Raleigh. Likewise, he saith how the Epurewei 
have now two very fair towns, one called Aruburguary, and the other Corburri- 
more ; and saith they are not good people, yet they dare not warre with them. 
He further affirmeth of the men whose shoulders are higher than their heads, 
which he called Wywaypanamy, and offereth to go up with me thither, if I come 
up in their high countrie ; for since the death of Topiaiwary, they are friends, and 
bend their forces against the Spaniards. He further spake of a white, cleare, high 
and huge rocke, under a mountain's side, which is called Mattuick ; that on a 
sunshine day, if a man looked on it, it would dazzle his eyes exceedingly. He 
showed me, before his departure from me, a piece of metal fashioned like an eagle, 
and, as I guess, it was about the weight of eight or nine ounces, troy- weight. It 
seemed to be golci, or at least two parts gold and one copper. I offered him an 
axe, which he refused ; to which I added four knives, but could not get it of him. 
But I imagine the Dutch at Selinama have bought it of him ; for their only coming 
was for axes, as he said, hearing that the Dutch were at Selinama. I demanded 
where he had that eagle : his answer was, he had it of his uncle, who dwelt 
among the Wearapoyns, in the country called Sherrumerrimary, near the Cassipa- 
gotos countrie, where there is great store of these images. Further, he said, that 
at the head of Selinama and Mariwin, there were great store of the half-moones, 
which he called by the name of Unnatons. 

" He likewise spake of a very fair and large city in Guyana, which he called 
Monooan, which I take U be that which Sir Walter called Manoa, ivhich standeih by 
a salt lake, which he called Parrooivan Parrocare Monoan, in the province of Asae- 
cona : the Chief CapMin or Acariwannora, as he called him, was called Pepodallapa-, 
" He further said, that after a man is up at the head of the river, and some ten 
days' journey within the land, every child can tell of the riches of Monooan, 
Further he addeth, how that once in every third year, all the Caciques or Lords 

10 



146 APPENDIX- 

and Captains, some seven days journey from Manooan, do come to a great drink- 
ing, which continueth for the space of ten days together, in which time they go 
sometimes a fishing, fowling and hunting ; their fishing in the salt lake, where is 
abundance of canoes, which are very great. They have many fish-pools of stand- 
ing water, wherein they have abundance of fish. They have a store of wild 
porkes and deer, and other beasts, which are very good meat. Their houses be 
made with many lofts, and partitions in them, but not boarded, but with bars of 
wood, only the lower floor on the ground is spread with clay, very smooth, and 
with fires hardened, a3 they do their pots ; then, presently, they build their houses. 
Also, he affirmeth, that within the citie at the entering in of their houses, they 
hang Caracoore on the posts, which I take to be Images of gold. 

" He likewise saith, that it is but a month's journey by land, from the head of 
Marawin to the head of Dissekeebee ; and from the head of^ Dissekeebee t<> the 
head of Orenoq, a month's travel." 



APPENDIX NO. II. 



The following testimony is given by Sir Walter Raleigh, in an Appendix to 
his Narrative, in further support of the opinion he entertained of the wealth of 
Guyana, and the existence in it of the rumored El Dorado. 

It consists of extracts of some Spanish letters, which he states were found in a 
prize vessel, taken by Capt. George Popham, in 1594, the year before his expe- 
dition, who, hearing of his discovery, on his own return to England, two month's 
after, delivered them to some of Queen Elizabeth's council." The authority of 
these papers cannot be questioned, as reference is thus publicly made to Captain 
Popham. Nor would Raleigh have made the assertion, that they were presented 
to the privy council, had such not been the case, which might also have been 
easily shown to be false. And, notwithstanding the attention given to his Narra- 
tive, and the detraction and ridicule which he, in consequence, received, it does 
not appear that any doubts were entertained of the genuineness of these letters. , 

Alonzo's letter from the Great Canaria, to his brother, being Commander of 
St. Lucar, concerning El Dorado. 

K There have been certain letters received here, of late, from a land newly dis- 
covered, called Nuevo Dorado, from the sons of certain inhabitants of this city, 
who were in the discovery. They write of wonderful riches to be found in the 
said Dorado, and that gold there is in great abundance. The course to fall in with 
it, is fifty leagues to the windward of Margueretta." 

(The name of Nuevo Dorado, or the new El Dorado, was given to it, to distin- 
guish it from the former sought by the Spaniards, southwest of the Rio Negro, 
toward the Amazon.) 

Alonzo's letter from thence to certain merchants of St. Lucar, concerning El 
Dorado. 

" Sir : We have no news worth writing, saving of a discovery lately made by 
the Spaniards, in a new land, called Nuevo Dorado, which is two days' journey, 
sailing to the windward of Margueretta. There is gold in such abundance, as the 
like has not been heard of. We have it for certain, in letters written from thence 
by some that were in the discovery, unto their parents in this city. I purpose 
(God willing) to bestow ten or twelve days in search of the said Dorado, as I pass 
in my journey toward Carthagena. I have sent you these, with part of the infor- 
mation of this discovery, that was sent to his majesty." 

10* 



148 APPENDIX. 

This information is of great importance in the history of El Dorado, in this 
new locality. It has been remarked in the first chapter, that two years before the 
expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh, an attempt for the discovery of it was made by 
Eerreo, Governor of Trinidad, who had obtained a patent for the purpose, from the 
King of Spain. In furtherance of his object, he sent two officers to explore the 
Oronoke, who ascended to the residence of the Charibee chief, by whom they 
were well received : and the document referred to, in the above letter, is an ac- 
, count of this expedition, prepared by one of these officers, Domingo de Vera, who 
styles himself "Master of the Camp, and General for Antonio de Berreo, Governor 
General for our Lord the King — between the Oronoke and Amazon, and the Island 
of Trinidad." 

He commences by stating, that on landing upon the Main, on the 23rd of April, 
1593, he performed various ceremonies for taking possession of for Berreo, which 
claim of possession was afterward renewed before the Charibee chief. To this, 
Raleigh, in his remarks prefixed to these letters, observes : iS Although the Span- 
iards seem to glory much in the formal possession taken before Morequito, (the 
Charibee chief,) it appears that after they were gone out of their country, the 
Indians there, having further consideration of the matter, having known and heard 
of their former cruelties upon the Borderers, and other of the Indians elsewhere, 
at their next coming, being ton of them employed, for a further discovery, they 
were provided to receive and entertain them in another manner of sort than they 
had done before — that is, they slew and buried them in the country they so much 
sought. Other possession they have not had since. Neither do the Indians mean, 
as they protest, to give them any other." 

The master of the camp, having stated his taking possession of the country, 
goes on to say: "The first of May, they prosecuted the said discovery to the 
town of Carapana, the first chief on the river. We thence passed to the town of 
Toroco, whose principal is Topiawari, uncle of Morequito, being five leagues 
farther within the land than the first nation, and well inhabited. The fourth of 
May, we came to a province about five leagues thence, of all sides inhabited with 
much people. The principal of this people came and met us in a peaceable man- 
ner; and he was called Revato. He brought us to a very large house, where 
he entertained us well, and gave us much gold ; and the interpreters asking from 
whence that gold was, he answered, ' From a province not passing a day's jour- 
ney off', where there are so many Indians as would shadow the sun, and so 
much gold, as all yonder plain will not contain it ; in which country, when they 
enter unto their borracheras, or drunken feasts, they take of the said gold, in dus( 3 
and anoint themselves all over therewith, to make the braver show, and to the end the 
gold may cover them, they anoint their bodies with stamped herbs of a gluey sub- 
stance.' And they have war with those Indians. They promised us that, if we 
would go in unto them, they would aid us; but they were such infinite numbers, 
as no doubt they would kill us. And being asked how they got the same gold, 
we were told they went to a certain down or place, and pulled and digged up the 
grass by the root, which done, they took of the earth, putting it in great buckets, 
which they carried to wash at the river, and that which came in powder, they 
kept for their borracheras, or drunken feasts, and that which was a piece, they 
wrought into eagles. The eighth of May we went from thence, and marched 
about five leagues. At the foot of a hill, we found a principal, called Arataco, 
with three thousand Indians, men and women, all in peace, and with much vict- 
ual, as hens and venison, in great abundance, and many sorts of wines. He 
entreated us to go to his house, and rest that night in his town, being of five hun- 
dred houses. The interpreter asked where he had those hens. He said they 



APPENDIX. 149 

were brought from a mountain, not passing a quarter of a league thence, where 
were many Indians, yea, so many as the grass on the ground ; and if we would 
have any we should send them jewsharps, for they would give for every one two 
hens. We took an Indian, and gave him five hundred harps ; the hens were so 
many that he brought as were not to be numbered. We said we would go thither. 
They told us they were now in their borracheras, or drunken feasts. We asked 
how they made these borracheras. He said they had many eagles of gold hanging 
on their breasts, pearls in their ears, and that they danced being all covered zoith gold, 
The Indian said unto us, if we would see them we should give him some hatchets. 
The master of the camp gave him one hatchet ; he brought us an eagle that 

weighed twenty-seven pounds of gold The eleventh day of May, we went about 

seven leagues from thence, to a province where we found a great company of 
Indians, apparelled. They told us that, if we came to fight, they would fill up 
those plains with Indians to fight with us ; but if we came in peace, we should 
enter, and be well entertained of them, because they had a great desire to see. 
Christians. And then they told us of all the riches that were. I do not here set 
it down, because there is no place for it ; but it shall appear by the information 
that goeth to his majesty." 

The letter of George Burien Britton, from the said Canaries, unto his cousin, 
a Frenchman dwelling at St. Lucar, concerning El Dorado. 

" Sir, and my very good cousin : there came of late, certain letters from a new 
discovered country, not far from Trinidado, which they write hath gold in great 
abundance ; the news seemeth to be very certain, because it passeth for good 
among the best of this city. Part of the information of the discovery that went to 
his majesty, goeth inclosed in Alonzo's letters. It is a thing worth the seeing." 

Report of Domingo Martinez, of Jamaica, concerning El Dorado. 

" He saith, that in 1593, being at Carthagena, there was a general report of a late 
discovery called Nuevo Dorado, and that a little before his coming thither, there 
came a frigate from the said Dorado, bringing in it a portraiture of a giant, all of 
gold, of weight forty-seven quintals, which the Indians there held for their idol." 

The Report of a Frenchman, called Bourtillier, of Sherbrooke, concerning 
Trinidad and Dorado. 

" He saith, being at Trinidad, in 1591, he had of an Indian there a piece of gold, 
of a quarter of a pound, in exchange of a knife. The said Indian told him he had 
it at the head of that River, which cometh to Paracoa in Trinidad ; and that, 
within the River of Oronoke, it was in great abundance, &c." 

Reports of certain merchants of Rio de Hacha, concerning El Nuevo Dorado. 

" They said that Nuevo Reyno yieldeth very many gold mines, and wonderful 
rich ; but lately was discovered a certain province, so rich in gold, as the report 
thereof may seem incredible. It is there in such abundance, and is called El 
Nuevo Dorado. Antonio de Berreo made the said discovery." 

The Report of a Spaniard, Captain with Berreo in the discovery of El Nuevo 
Dorado. 

*' That the information sent to the King was, in every point truly said ; that the 
river Oronoke hath seven mouths or outlets to the sea, called Las Siete Bocas de 
Dragon ; that the said River runneth far into the land, in many places very broad ; 
that Antonio de Berreo lay at Trinidad, making head to go and conquer and peo- 
ple the said Dorado.* 

* Cayley's Life of Raleigh, Appendix, No. DC 



APPENDIX NO. III. 



p For a more full account of the bravery and warlike character of the Charibees, 
I extract the following passage from my History of this nation : 
i " It is unqestionable, that the wives of the Charibees engaged in the warlike en- 
counters of their nation, and that they were trained to possess a physical activity 
and energy, and a hardihood of character, analogous to the character of their hus- 
bands. # 

" Of the Cumanians, (a branch of this nation,) Martyr remarks, that the females 
run, swim, and leap as the men. On the coast of Paria, (which also was inhabited 
by some of this nation,) Ogilby observes, the women oftentimes, without any boat 
or floating pieces of timber, venture two or three leagues into the sea. They follow 
the men in wars, and carry their provisions and weapons, to which labor they are 
so much used, that they will bear on their shoulders, fifty leagues together, such 
luggage as three Spaniards are scarce able to lift from the ground."* 
1 The ordeal which the father underwent on the birth of his sons, from a strange 
idea that his patient endurance of it would impart bravery to them, was sometimes 
practiced in the case of the daughters. And Lafitan says, that among the Chari- 
bees in Brazil, when females arrived at the age of about fourteen, they were them- 
selves to undergo an ordeal, which he thus describes : Their hair is first cut close 
to the head or burnt off. They are then made to stand on a flat stone, and the of- 
ficiator, with the tooth of the Agoutis, makes two gashes down their back from 
each shoulder obliquely in the form of a cross, and several other cuts, which causes 
the blood to flow, and, though the pain they feel they manifest by the grinding of 
their teeth, and their contortions of body, not a single sigh escapes them. The 
gashes are then rubbed with the ashes of a wild gourd, which greatly aggravates 
the pain, and renders them ineffaceable. Then their arms are tied close to the 
body, which is bound round with cotton cord, and round their necks are hung the 
teeth of a certain animal, and they are placed in a hamack, in which they are so 
enveloped as not to be seen. In this situation they remain three days without be- 
ing allowed to converse with any one, and keeping a very strict fast, without eat- 
ing or drinking the least of anything. At the end of the three days they are to be 
taken from the hamack, and placed upon the flat stone, being not yet allowed to 
touch the earth, and then unbound. After which they are returned to the ham- 
ack, to remain in it a month, living only on some uncooked roots, a little farina, 
(the meal of manioc,) and water, and wholly prohibited from eating anything else. 
At the end of the month, they are taken from the hamack, and cut over the 
whole body, from head to foot, in a more cruel manner than in the first operation. 
They are then placed in the hamack, to remain there a second month and undergo 
another abstinence, not quite so rigorous as the last ; but are not allowed, during 

I * Ogilby's Hist, of America. 



APPENDIX, 



151 



this time, to leave the hamack a moment, nor converse with any one ; and are 
obliged to be occupied continually with picking and spinning of cotton. At the 
expiration of the second month, they are rubbed over the whole body with a black 
dye, and commence again to work in their fields.* 

That the wives of the Charibees assisted their husbands in their wars, and fought 
like them, there is no want of evidence. Of the Islanders Martyr remarks : "Both 
sexes possess great power from the use of the bow and poisoned arrows. When 
their husbands are at any time absent from their homes, they protect themselves 
from injurious aggressions in a manly manner.f " And Columbus, on his discovery 
of the Antilles, witnessed several instances of female bravery. In the account 
given in the first chapter of his progress through these islands, I have observed 
that on his second voyage one of his boats had an encounter at St. Croix with a 
canoe of the Charibees, in which were four men and as many women, which were 
taken. Herrera adds the following particulars : " As the canoe approached, both 
men and women discharged their arrows with astonishing rapidity ; and before the 
Spaniards could cover themselves with their shields, one of the men was killed 
by an arrow shot by a woman, who wounded another severely. One of the females 
shot with such force as to pierce through a target. There was a female in the 
canoe, who, from the respect paid to her, seemed to be a queen. She was accom- 
panied by a son, a youth of a robust form and terrific look. The Spaniards then 
ran their boat forcibly against the canoe, and overset it. But the Indian women, 
as well as the men, while swimming in the water, with not less activity sent forth 
their darts against the Spaniards ; and collecting on a covered rock, strenuously 
defended themselves, but were at length taken, one being killed. "J " In this skir- 
mish the Indians used poisoned arrows, and one of the Spaniards died within a few 
days, of a wound he had received from a female warrior.^" 

p On the second visit made by Columbus to Guadaloupe, on his return to Spain, 
on his sending a boat ashore, before reaching it, the men beheld the sight of an as- 
semblage of many females on the beach, coming forward with bows and arrows to 
hinder their landing. The boat not being able to land, as the sea ran hio-h, he 
sent two of the Indians he had on board swimming, to inform them they came only 
for provisions ; on which they replied that they should go to the other side of the 
Island, where their husbands were. The ships proceeding thither, a great multi- 
tude of men appeared, shooting great flights of arrows ; and the boats firing on them 
and wounding some, they fled to the mountains. Columbus sent on shore a party 
of men who brought away, as captives, forty females and three boys. One of the 
females, who was the wife of the Cacique, possessed so much strength and agility 
as almost to resist the attempts of the Spaniards to take her. One of the men, 
a native of the Canaries, extremely swift of foot, had great difficulty in overtaking 
her, for she ran like a stag ; and when she perceived she was likely to be over- 
taken, she turned, clasped him in her arms, and would have strangled him had not 
others come to his assistance." || 

The Charibees of the Continent possess the same character. (I omit several 
instances which I have recited in the present volume, and add only the following:) 
Herrera relates that in the expedition made in 1532, by De Heredia, for the con- 
quest of Caramari,1T (now Carthagena,) the inhabitants of which considered them- 
selves descended from the Charibees, in an engagement which he had with some 
Indians, in which they fought furiously with poisoned arrows, and clubs of hard 
wood, " the maidens fought as well as the men." And " there was one," says a 

• * Laptan, vo». 2, p. 10. t Martyr, Dec. 1. t Herrera, Dec. 1, book 2, chap. vii. 

§ Ining's Columbus, book 6, cliap. iii. !l Herrera, Dec. 1, boon 3, chap. i. \ Dec. 3. 



152 APPENDIX. 

writer, quoted by Purchas, " who, before they could take her, being about eighteen 
years old, slew with her bow eight Spaniards."* 

But this trait is not peculiar to the females of the Charibees. Instances of it 
are met with, also, among other American Indians. "Before the time of the 
lucas," observes Herrera, " the inhabitants of Peru went naked, wandered about in 
docks like the Arabs, without houses or settled dwellings, except only some caves, 
and some made fortresses on the highest hills, where they settled, to fight with 
their neighbors for the tilled lands. At that time a very brave man, called Zapona, 
started up in the province of Callao, who subdued a considerable part of it ; and 
ihe Indians say the war was carried on very resolutely by some women, who, for 
their defence, made several walls of dry stone, trenches and forts, of which there 
are some remains to be seen at this day. These women having done wonders, were 
at last vanquished by Zapona, and their name forgotten." 

This trait is also found among the females of some North American Indians. 
"The Choctaws," observes Bossu, "love war and are acquainted with stratagems, 
&c. Some of their women are so fond of their husbands as to go to the wars 
with them. They stand by their sides in the battle, with a quiver full of arrows, 
&nd encourage them, telling them they ought not to fear their enemies, but die as 
true men."f In the narrative of De Soto's expedition to Florida, we have also a 
particular account of the martial bravery of some Indian women. He had a se- 
jious encounter with some Indians at a place he calls Mauville, (now Mobile,) 
which lasted seven hours ; but they seeing the number of men they had lost, while 
Ihe fire of their enemies increased, implored the aid of the women, and called on 
them to revenge the death of the many brave Indians who had been killed. All 
this time some women were already fighting at the side of their husbands, but as 
soon as they were thus called on, they all ran en masse, some with bows and ar- 
rows, others with swords, halberds and lances which the Spaniards had left in the 
street, which they adroitly made use of. They all placed themselves in front of 
their husbands, and full of rage and hatred braved the danger and exhibited a cour- 
age beyond their sex. But as soon as the Spainiards saw they fought only against 
women, and that they sought rather to die than be conquered, they spared them, 
not even wounding one.J De Soto afterward attacked another village, called Tula, 
where a similar scene occurred. The inhabitants, who were unapprised of his ap- 
proach, took up arms as soon as they saw the Spaniards, sallied out against them, 
and were seconded by many women, who fought very valiantly. The Spaniards 
broke through them and pushed on to the town, when the combat became warmer, 
for the Indians and their wives fought in despair, and showed they preferred death 
to slavery. It becoming late, De Soto sounded a retreat and returned to camp, 
much surprised at the courage of the Indians, and principally of their wives, who 
cornbatted with more obstinacy than the men.§ 

But this was also the character of the females of the Scythians, between whom 
and the Charibees so many strong points of resemblance have been shown to exist. 
The Scythians, says Justin, have been as much distinguished by the valor of their 
females as by the victories of their warriors, and when the great exploits performed 
by their men and by their women are considered, it is uncertain which sex among 
them was most conspicuous. The wives of the Sarmatians, (Sauromats) 
who sprung from the Scythians, observes Herodotus, pursue the chase on horse- 
back, sometimes with, and sometimes without their husbands, and dressed in the 

* Purchas, book 5, chap i. t Hist. Louisiana, vol. 1. p. 291 

I Garcillaso, Hist. Conquest of Florida, by De Soto, vol. 2. p. 326. 
V Garciltuso, Hist. Conquest of Flo! da by De Soto, vol". 2. pp. 406-8. 



APPENDIX 153 

habits of men, frequently engage in battle. With respect to their institutions 
of marriage, no female is permitted to marry, until she first shall have killed 
an enemy. They married several wives, and carried them with them to war, and 
even to battle. The same character belonged to the wives of the Tartars, who 
were another branch of the same nation. " The Tartars of Great Bucharia," 
says Abul Ghazi, " pride themselves on being the most robust and brave of all the 
Tartars. The women of this country, also, value themselves for an approved 
bravery. They often go to war with their husbands, and do not fear to come to 
blows upon occasions." " The Tangasi are good horsemen, and their wives and 
daughters ride as well as themselves. They never go out without being well 
armed, having also the reputation of managing their arms very dexterously." 



APPENDIX NO. IV. 



Having closed my examination of the different relations made by Sir Walter- 
Raleigh in the Narrative of his expedition to Guyana, I cannot avoid referring to 
the noble and elevated sentiments which he possessed, and are exhibited in his 
writings, as affording the strongest evidence that he was incapable of the deception 
and fabrication imputed to him by his enemies in that publication ; and for this 
purpose, I extract from his Biography by Mr. Cayley two pieces : First, a letter 
which he wrote to Prince Henry, the son of King James, and heir-apparent to the 
throne,* who in his adversity proved his steady friend ; and which I select with 
more pleasure, as affording also a specimen of his literary ability, as it is believed 
that for vigor of style, elegance of language, and elevation of sentiment, few com- 
positions in the English language surpass it. The other piece is entitled " Instruc- 
tions to his Son and to posterity ;"f in perusing which, we cannot but admire the 
diversity of talent which he exhibited. We behold him, at one time, seizing with 
enthusiasm the bold and magnificent project of achieving the conquest of a rich 
and splendid empire in a distant country — an enterprise attended with the utmost 
risk and difficulty : at another, studying the philosophy of ordinary life, and, with 
the sagacity of a Bacon or a Franklin, laying down rules to regulate the conduct 
of man in all his private relations and daily intercourse. 

SIR WALTER RALEIGH TO PRINCE HENRY. 

" May it please youe Highness : 

"The following sheets are addressed to your highness, from a man who values 
his liberty and a very small fortune, in a remote part of this island, under the 
present constitution, above all the riches and honors that he could anywhere en- 
joy under any other establishment. You see, sir, the doctrines that are lately 
come into the world, and how far the phrase has obtained of calling your royal 
father God's vicegerent ; which ill men have turned both to the dishonor of God, 
and the impeachment of his majesty's goodness. They adjoin the vicegerency to 
the idea of being all-powerful, and not to that of being all-good. His majesty's 
wisdom, it is to be hoped, will save him from the snare that may lie under such 
gross adulations ; but your youth, and the thirst of praise which I have observed in 
you, may possibly mislead you to hearken to these charmers, who would conduct 
your noble nature into tyranny. Be careful, oh ! my prince ; hear them not, fly from 
their deceits. You are in the succession to a throne from whence no evil can be 
imputed to you, but all good must be conveyed by you. Your father is called the 
vicegerent of Heaven. Shall man have authority from the Fountain of good to do 

* Pace 49. T Page 216. 



APPENDIX. 155 

evil ? No, ray prince, let mean and degenerate spirits, which want benevolence, 
suppose their power, impaired by a disability of doing injuries. If want of power 
to do ill be an incapacity in a prince, with reverence be it spoken, it is an incapa- 
city he has in common with the Deity. 

" Let me not doubt, but all plans which do not carry in them the mutual hap- 
piness of prince and people, will appear as absurd to your great understanding, as 
disagreeable to your noble nature. 

" Exert yourself, oh, generous prince, against such sycophants, in the glorious 
cause of liberty ; and assume an ambition worthy of you, to secure your fellow- 
creatures from slavery ; from a condition as much below that of brutes, as to act 
without reason is less miserable than to act against it. Preserve to your future 
subjects the divine right of being free-agents, and to your own royal house the 
divine right of being their benefactors. Believe me, my prince, there is no other 
right can flow from God. While your highness is forming yourself for a throne, 
consider the laws as so many common-places in your study of the science of gov- 
ernment. When you mean nothing but justice, they are an ease and help to you. 
This way of thinking, is what gave men the glorious appellatives of deliverers and 
fathers of their country. This made the sight of them rouse their beholders into 
acclamations, and made mankind incapable of bearing their very appearance with- 
out applauding it as a benefit. Consider the inexpressible advantages which will 
ever attend your highness, while you make the power of rendering men happy 
the measure of your actions. While this is your impulse, how easily will that 
power be extended ! The glance of your eye will give gladness, and your every 
sentence have the force of a bounty. Whatever some men would insinuate, you 
have lost your subject when you have lost his inclination ; you are to preside over 
the minds, not the bodies, of men. The soul is the essence of a man ; and you 
cannot have the true man against his inclination. Choose, therefore, to be the 
king or the conqueror of your people ; it may be submission, but it cannot be 
obedience, that is passive. 

" I am, sir, 

" Your highness's most faithful servant, 

" WALTER RALEIGH. 

" London, August 12, 1611." 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SON, 



AND TO POSTERITY 



CHOICE OF FRIENDS. ' 

There is nothing more becoming any wise man, than to make choice of 
friends ; for by them thou sbalt be judged what thou art. Let them, therefore, be 
wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain. But make election 
rather of thy betters than thy inferiors, shunning always such as are poor and 
needy. For if thou givest twenty gifts, and refuse to do the like but once, all that 
thou hast done will be lost, and such men will become thy mortal enemies. Take 
also special care, that thou never trust any friend or servant, with any matter that 
may endanger thine estate ; for so shalt thou make thyself a bond-slave to him 
that thou trustest, and leave thyself alway to his mercy. And, be sure of this 
tnou shalt never find a friend in thy young years, whose conditions and qualities 
will please thee after thou comest to more discretion and judgment ; and then all 
thou givest is lost, and all wherein thou shalt trust such a one -will be discovered. 
Such, therefore, as are thy inferiors, will follow thee but to eat thee out, and when 
thou leavest to feed them, they will hate thee ; and such kind of men, if thou pre- 
serve thy estate, will alway be had. 

And if thy friends be of better quality than thyself, thou mayest be sure of two 
things ; the first, that they will be more careful to keep thy counsel, because they 
have more to lose than thou hast ; the second, they will esteem thee for thyself, 
and not for that which thou dost possess. But if thou be subject to any great 
vanity or ill, (from which I hope God will bless thee,) then therein trust no man ; 
for every man's folly ought to be his greatest secret. And although I persuade 
thee to associate thyself with thy betters, or at least with thy peers, yet remember 
alway, that thou venture not thy estate with any of those great ones that shall at- 
tempt unlawful things, for such labor for themselves and not for thee ; thou shalt 
be sure to part with them in the danger, but not in the honor ; and to venture a 
sure estate in present, in hope of a better in future, is mere madness. And great 
men forget such as have done them service, when they have obtained what they 
would ; and will rather hate thee for saying thou hast been a means of their ad- 
vancement, than acknowledge it. 

I could give thee a thousand examples, and I myself know it and have tasted 
it in all the course of my life. When thou shalt read and observe the stories of 
all nations, thou shalt find innumerable examples of the like. Let thy love, there- 
fore, be to the best, so long as they do well ; but take heed that thou love God, 
thy country, thy prince, and thine own estate before all others. For the fancies 
of men change, and he that loves to-day, hateth to-morrow ; but let reason be thy 
school-mistress, which shall ever guide thee aright." 



APPENDIX. 157 



CHOICE OF A WIFE. 

The next and greatest care ought to be in the choice of a wife. And the 
only danger therein, is beauty, by which all men in all ages, wise and foolish, 
have been betrayed. And though I know it vain to use reasons or arguments to 
dissuade thee from being captivated therewith, there being few or none that ever 
resisted that witchery ; yet I cannot omit to warn thee, as of other things which 
may be thy ruin and destruction. For the present time, it is true, that every man 
prefers his fantasy in that appetite before all other worldly desires ; leaving the 
care of honor, credit, and safety, in respect thereof. But remember, that though 
these affections do not last, yet the bond of marriage dureth to the end of thy life ; 
and, therefore, better to be borne withal in a mistress, than in a wife. For when 
thy humor shall change, thou art yet free to choose again, (if thou give thyself 
that vain liberty.) Remember, secondly, that if thou marry for beauty, thou bind- 
est thyself all thy life for that, which perchance will never last nor please thee 
one year ; and when thou hast it, it will be to thee of no price at all, for the desire 
dieth when it is attained, and the affection perisheth when it is satisfied. Re- 
member, when thou wert a sucking child, that then thou didst love thy nurse, and 
that thou wert fond of her ; after a while thou didst love thy dry nurse, and didst 
forget the other ; after that thou didst also despise her : so will it be with thee in 
thy liking in elder years. 

! And, therefore, though thou canst not forbear to love, yet forbear to link; 
after a while thou shalt find an alteration in thyself, and see another far more 
pleasing than the first, second, or third love. Yet I wish thee, above all the rest, 
have a care thou dost not marry an uncomely woman for any respect ; for come- 
liness in children is riches, if nothing else be left them. And if thou have care 
for thy races of horses and other beasts, value the shape and comeliness of thy 
children before alliances or riches. Have care therefore both together ; for if 
thou have a fair wife, and a poor one, if thine own estate be not great, assure V-hy- 
eelf that love abideth not with want ; for she is the companion of plenty and 
honor. For I never yet knew a poor woman exceeding fair, that was not made 
dishonest by one or other in the end. This Bathsheba taught her son Solomon, 
favor is deceitful and beauty is vanity ; she saith farther, that a icise wo?nan over- 
seeth the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. 

Have therefore evermore care, that thou be beloved of thy wife, rather than 
thyself besotted on her ; and thou shalt judge of her love by these two observa- 
tions. First, if thou perceive she have a care of thy estate, and exercise herself 
therein ; the other, if she study to please thee, and be sweet unto thee, in conver- 
sation without thy instruction, for love needs no teaching nor precept. On the 
other side, be not sour or stern to thy wife ; for cruelty engendereth no other 
thing than hatred. Let her have equal part of thy estate while thou livest, if 
thou find her sparing and honest ; but what thou givest after thy death, remember 
that thou givest it to a stranger, and most times to an enemy. For he that shall 
marry thy wife, will despise thee, thy memory, and thine ; and shall possess the 
quiet of thy labors, the fruit which thou hast planted, enjoy thy love, and spend 
with joy and ease what thou hast spared and gotten with care and travail. Yet 
always remember, that thou leave not thy wife to be a shame unto thee after thou 
art dead, but that she may live according to thy estate ; especially if thou hast 
lew children, and them provided for. But howsoever it be, or whatsoever thou 
find, leave thy wife no more than of necessity thou must, but only during her 



153 APPENDIX. 

widowhood. For if she love again, let her not enjoy her second love in the same 
bed wherein she loved thee, nor fly to future pleasures with those feathers which 
death hath pulled from thy wings ; but leave thy estate to thy house and children, 
in which thou livedst upon earth while it lasted. To conclude ; wives were or- 
dained to continue the generation of men, not to transfer them, and diminish them ; 
either in continuance or ability ; and therefore thy house and estate, which liveth 
in thy son, and not in thy wife, is to be preferred. 

Let thy time of marriage be in thy young and strong years ; for believe it, 
ever the young wife betrayeth the old husband, and she that had thee not in thy 
flower will despise thee in thy fall, and thou shalt be unto her but a captivity and 
sorrow. Thy best time will be toward thirty. For as the younger times are un- 
fit, either to choose or to govern a wife and family, so if thou stay long, thou shalt 
hardly see the education of thy children, which being left to strangers, are in effect 
lost. And better were it to be unborn, than ill-bred ; for thereby thy posterity 
shall either perish, or remain a shame to thy name and family. Furthermore, if it 
be late ere thou take a wife, thou shalt spend thy prime and summer of thy life 
with harlots, destroy thy health, impoverish thy estate, and endanger thy life ; and 
be sure of this, that how many mistresses soever thou hast, so many enemies thou 
ahalt purchase to thyself ; for there never was any such affection, which ended not 
in hatred or disdain. Remember the saying of Solomon, there is a way which 
seemeth right to a man, but the issues thereof are the wages of death ; for howsoever 
a lewd woman please thee for a time, thou wait hate her in the end, and she will 
study to destroy thee. If thou canst not abstain from them in thy vain and un- 
bridled times, yet remember that thou sowest on the sands, and dost mingle thy 
vital blood with corruption, and purchasest diseases, repentance, and hatred only. 
Bestow, therefore, thy youth so, that thou mayst have comfort to remember it 
when it hath forsaken thee, and not sigh and grieve at the account thereof. 
While thou art young thou wilt think it will never have an end ; but behold, the 
longest day hath its evening, and that thou shalt enjoy it but once, that it never 
turns again. Use it therefore as the spring-time, which soon departeth, and 
wherein thou oughtest to plant and sow all provisions for a long and happy life. 



FLATTERERS. 

Take care thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even the wisest men are 
abused by these. Know, therefore, that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors ; 
for they will strengthen thy imperfection, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee 
in nothing, but so shadow and paint all thy vices and follies, as thou shalt never, 
by their will discern evil from good, or vice from virtue. And because all men 
are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the additions of other men's praises is 
most perilous. Do not therefore praise thyself, except thou wilt be counted a 
vain-glorious fool, neither take delight in the praises of other men, except thou 
deserve it, and receive it from such as are Avorthy and honest, and will withal 
warn thee of thy faults ; for flatterers have never any virtue, they are base, creep- 
ing, cowardly persons. A flatterer is said to be a beast that biteth smiling ; it is 
said by Isaiah in this manner, my people, they that praise thee, seduce thee and dis- 
order the paths of thy feet. And David desired God to cut out the tongue of a flat- 
terer. But it is hard to know them from friends, they are so obsequious, and full 
of protestations ; for a wolf resembles a dog, so doth a flatterer a friend. A flat- 
terer is compared to an ape, who, because she cannot defend the house like a dog, 



APPENDIX. 159 

labor as an ox, or bear burdens as a horse, doth therefore yet play tricks and pxo- 
voke laughter. Thou mayst be sure that he that will in private tell thee thy 
faults, is thy friend, for he adventures thy mislike, and doth hazard thy hatred 
for there are few men that can endure it, every man, for the most part, delighting 
in self-praise, which is one of the most universal follies which bewitcheth mankind. 

QUARRELS. , 

Be careful to avoid public disputations at feasts, or at tables among choleric or 
quarrelsome persons ; and eschew evermore to be acquaintedj or familiar with 
ruffians. For thou shalt be in as much danger in contending with a brawler in a 
private quarrel as in a battle, wherein thou mayst get honor to thyself, and safety 
to thy prince and country. But if thou be once engaged, carry thyself bravely, 
that they may fear thee after. To shun therefore private fight, be well advised 
in thy words and behaviour ; for honor and shame is in the talk, and the tongue 
of a man causeth him to fall. 

Jest not openly at those that are simple, but remember how much thou art 
bound to God, who hath made thee wiser. Defame not any woman publicly, 
though thou know her to be evil ; for those that are faulty, cannot endure to be 
taxed, but will seek to be avenged of thee, and those that are not guilty, cannot 
endure unjust reproach. And as there is nothing more shameful and dishonest, 
than to do wrong, so truth itself cutteth his throat that carrieth her publicly in 
every place. Remember the divine saying, he tliat keepeth his mouth, keepeth his 
life. Do therefore right to all men, where it may profit them, and thou shalt 
thereby get much love ; and forbear to speak evil things of men, though it be true, 
(if thou be net constrained,) and thereby thou shalt avoid malice and revenge. 

Do not accuse any man of any crime, if it be not to save thyself, thy prince, 
or country ; for there is nothing more dishonorable (next to treason itself,) than 
to be an accuser. Notwithstanding, I would not have thee, for any respect, lose 
thy reputation, or endure public disgrace ; for better it were not to live than to 
live a coward, if the offence proceed not from thyself. If it do, it shall be better 
to compound it upon good terms, than to hazard thyself; for if thou overcome, 
thou art under the cruelty of the law ; if thou art overcome, thou art dead or dis- 
honored. If thou therefore contend, or discourse in argument, let it be with wise 
and sober men, of whom thou must learn by reasoning, and not with ignorant per- 
sons ; for thou shalt thereby instruct those that will not thank thee, and utter 
what they have learned from thee for their own ; but if thou know more than 
ether men, utter it when it may do thee honor, and not in assemblies of ignorant 
and common persons. 

Speaking much, also, is a sign of vanity ; for he that is lavish in words, is a 
niggard in deeds ; and, as Solomon saith, (he mouth of a wise man is in his heart, 
the lieart of a fool is in his mouth, because what he knoweth, or thinkelh, he utlereih. 
And by thy words and discourses men will judge thee. For as Socrates saith, 
such as thy toords are, such will thy affections be esteemed ; and such will thy deeds 
as thy affections, and such thy life as thy deeds. Therefore be advised what thou 
dost discourse of, and what thou maintainest ; whether touching religion, state, or 
vanity ; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be accounted profane ; if in the 
second, dangerous ; if in the third, indiscreet and foolish. He that cannot refrain 
from much speaking, is like a city without walls, and less pains in the world a 
man cannot take, than to hold his tongue ; therefore, if thou observest this rule in 



160 APPENDIX 

all assemblies, thou shalt seldom err. Restrain thy choler, hearken much, and 
speak little ; for the tongue is the instrument of the greatest good, and greatest 
evil that is done in the world. 

According to Solomon, life and death are in the power of the tongue; and as Eu- 
ripides truly affirmeth, every unbridled tongue in the end shall find itself unfortunate ; 
for in all that ever I observed in the course of worldly things, I ever found that 
men's fortunes are oftener made by their tongues than by their virtues, and more 
men's fortunes overthrown thereby also, than by their vices. And to conclude, 
all quarrels, mischief, hatred, and destruction, arise from unadvised speech ; and 
in much speech there are many errors, out of which thy enemies shall ever take 
the most dangerous advantage. And as thou shalt be happy, if thou thyself ob- 
serve these things, so shall it be most profitable for thee to avoid their companies 
that err in that kind, and not to hearken to tale-bearers, to inquisitive persons, and 
such as busy themselves with other men's estates ; that creep into houses as spies, 
to learn news which concerns them not ; for, assure thyself, such persons are 
most base and unworthy, and I never knew any of them prosper or respected 
among worthy or wise men. 

.' Take heed, also, that thou be not, found a liar ; for a lying spirit is hateful both 
to God and man. A liar is commonly a coward ; for he dares not avow truth. 
A liar is trusted of no man ; he can have no credit, neither in public nor private ; 
and if there were no more arguments than this, know that our Lord in St. John 
saith, that it is a vice proper to Satan, lying being opposite to the nature of God, 
which consisteth in truth ; and the gain of lying is nothing else, but not to be 
trusted of any, nor to be believed when we say the truth. It is said in the Pro- 
verbs, that God hateth false lips ; and he that speaketh lies shall perish. Thus thou 
mayst see and find in all the books of God, how odious and contrary to God a liar 
is ; and for the world, believe it, that it never did any man good, except in the ex- 
tremity of saving life ; for a liar is a base, unworthy, and cowardly spirit. 



PRESERVATION OF ESTATE. 

Among all other things of the world, take care of thy estate ; which thou shalt 
ever preserve, if thou observe three things. First, that thou know what thou hast, 
what everything is worth that thou hast, and to see that thou art not wasted by 
thy servants and officers. The second is, that thou never spend anything before 
thou have it ; for borrowing is the canker and death of every man's estate. The 
third is, that thou suffer not thyself to be wounded for other men's faults, and 
scourged for other men's offences, which is, the surety for another; for thereby 
millions of men have been beggared and destroyed, paying the reckoning of other 
men's riot, and the charge of other men's folly and prodigality. If thou smart, 
smart for thine own sins ; and above all things, be not made an ass to carry the 
burdens of other men. 

If any friend desire thee to be his security, give him a part of what thou hast 
to spare ; if he press thee farther, he is not thy friend at all ; for friendship rather 
chooseth harm to itself, than offereth it. If thou be bound for a stranger, thou art 
a fool ; if for a merchant, thou puttest thy estate to learn to swim ; if for a church- 
man, he hath no inheritance ; if for a lawyer, he will find an evasion by a syllable 
or word, to abuse thee ; if for a poor man, thou must pay it thyself; if for a rich 
man, it need not. Therefore from suryteship, as from a man-slayer, or enchanter, 
bless thyself; for the best profit and return will be this, that if thou force him for 



APPENDIX. 161 

whom thou art bound, to pay it himself, he will become thy enemy ; if thou use 
+ o pay it thyself, thou wilt be a beggar ; and believe thy father in this, and print it 
in thy thought, that what virtue soever thou hast, be it never so manifold, if thou 
be poor withal, thou and thy qualities shall be despised. Beside, poverty is oft- 
times sent as a curse of God ; it is a shame among men, an imprisonment of the 
mind, a vexation of every worthy spirit ; thou shalt neither help thyself nor others, 
thou shalt drown thee in all thy virtues, having no means to show them ; thou shalt 
be a burden, and an eye-sore to thy friends, every man will fear thy company ; 
thou shalt be driven basely to beg and depend on others, to natter unworthy men, 
to make dishonest shifts ; and to conclude, poverty provokes a man to do infamous 
and detested deeds. Let not vanity therefore, or persuasion, draw thee to that 
worst of worldly miseries. 

If thou be rich, it will give thee pleasure in health, comfort in sickness, keep 
thy mind and body free, save thee from many perils, relieve thee in thy elder- 
years, relieve the poor and thy honest friends, and give means to thy posterity to 
live, and defend themselves and thine own fame. Where it is said in the Pro- 
verbs, that he shall be sore vexed that is surety for a strange?; and he that hateth 
suretyship, is sure, it is farther said, the poor is hated even of his own neighbor, but 
the rich-have many friends. Lend not to him that is mightier than thyself, for if 
thou lendest him, count it but lost. Be not surety above thy power, for if thou 
be surety, think to pay it. 



SERVANTS. 

Let thy servants be such as thou mayst command, and entertain none about 
thee but yeomen, to whom thou givest wages ; for those that will serve thee 
without, thy hire, will cost thee treble as much as they that know thy fare. If 
thou trust any servant with thy purse, be sure thou take his account ere thou 
sleep ; for if thou put it off, thou wilt then afterward for tediousness neglect it. I 
myself, have therefore lost more than I am worth. And whatsoever thy servant 
gaineth thereby, he will never thank thee, but laugh thy simplicity to scorn ; and 
beside, 'tis the way to make thy servants thieves, who else would be honest. 



BRAVE RAGS. 

Exceed not in the humor of rags and bravery, for these will soon wear out of 
fashion ; but money in thy purse will ever be in fashion ; and no man is esteemed 
for gay garments, but by fools and women. 



RICHES. 

On the other side, take heed that thou seek not riches basely, nor attain them 
by evil means ; destroy no man for his wealth, nor take anything from the poor ; 
for the cry and complaint thereof will pierce the heavens. And it is most detest- 
able before God, and most dishonorable before worthy men, to wrest anything from 
the needy and laboring soul. God will never prosper thee in aught, if thou offend 
therein. But use thy poor neighbors and tenants well, pine not them and their 
children to add superfluity and needless expenses to thyself. He that hath pity 

11 



162 APPENDIX. 

on another man's sorrow, shall be free from it himself; and he that delighteth in, 
and scorneth the misery of another, shall one time or other fall into it himself. 
Remember this precept, he that hath mercy on the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and 
tlie Lord will recompense him what he hath given. I do not understand those for 
poor who are vagabonds and beggars, but those that labor to live, such as are old 
and cannot travail, such poor widows and fatherless children, as are ordered to be 
relieved, and the poor tenants that travail to pay their rents, and are driven to pov- 
erty by mischance, and not by riot or careless expenses ; on such have thou com- 
passion, and God will bless thee for it. Make not the hungry soul sorrowful, 
defer not thy gift to the needy ; for if he curse thee, in the bitterness of his soul, 
his prayer shall be heard of him that made him. 



WINE. 

Take especial care that thou delight not in wine, for there never was any man 
that came to honor or preferment that loved it ; for it transformeth a man into a 
beast, decayeth health, poisoneth the breath, destroyeth natural heat, brings a 
man's stomach to an artificial heat, deformeth the face, rotteth the teeth, and, to 
conclude, maketh a man contemptible, soon old, and despised of all wise and 
worthy men, hated in thy servants, in thyself and companions ; for it is a bewitch- 
ing and infectious vice. And, remember my words, that it were better for a man 
to be subject to any vice than to it ; for all other vanities and sins are recovered, 
but a drunkard will never shake off the delight of beastliness ; for the longer it 
possesseth a man, the more he will delight in it, and the older he groweth, the 
more he shall be subject to it ; for it dulleth the spirits, and destroyeth the body, 
as ivy doth the old tree, or as the worm that engendereth in the kernel of the nut. 

Take heed, therefore, that such a cureless canker pass not thy youth, nor such 
a beastly infection thy old age ; for then shall all thy life be but as the life of a 
beast, and after thy death, thou shalt only leave a shameful infamy to thy posterity, 
who shall study to forget that such a one was their father. Anacharsis saith, the 
first draught servethfor health, the second for pleasure, the third for shame, the fourth 
for madness ; but in youth there is not so much as one draught permitted, for it 
putteth fire to fire, and wasteth the natural heat and seed of generation. And, 
therefore, except thou desire to hasten thine end, take this for a general rule, that 
thou never add any artificial heat to thy body, by wine or spice, until thou find 
that time hath decayed thy natural heat ; and the sooner thou beginnest to help 
nature, the sooner she will forsake thee, and trust altogether to art. Who have 
misfortune, saith Solomon, who have sorrow and grief, who have trouble without 
fighting, stripes without cause, andfaintness of eyes 7 even they that sit at wine, and 
strain themselves to empty cups. Pliny saith, wine maketh the hand quivering, the 
eyes watery, the night unquiet, lewd dreams, a stinking breath in the morning, and 
an utter forgelfulness of all things. 

Whosoever loveth wine, shall not be trusted of any man, for he cannot keep a 
secret. Wine maketh man not only a beast, but a madman ; and if thou love it, 
thy own wife, thy children, and thy friends, will despise thee. In drink, men care 
not what they say, what offence they give ; they forget comeliness, commit dis- 
orders, and, to conclude, offend all virtuous and honest company, and God most 
of all, to whom we daily pray for health, and a life free from pain ; and yet by 
drunkenness and gluttony, (which is the drunkenness of feeding,) we draw on, 
saith Hesiod, a swift, hasty, untimely, cruel, and an infamous, old age. And St 



APPENDIX. 163 

Augustine describeth drunkenness in this manner ; ebrielas est blandus daemon, 
dulce venerium, suave peccatum ; quod, qui Tiabet, seipsum non habet ; quod qui 
facil, peccatum not facit, sed ipse est peccatum. Drunkenness is a flattering devil, 
a sweet poison, a pleasant sin, which whosoever hath, hath not himself, which whoso- 
ever doth commit, doth not commit sin, but he himself is wholly sin. 

Innocentius saith, quid turpius ebrioso, cui fcetor in ore, tremor in corpore, qui 
promit stulta, prodit occulta, cui mens alienatur, fades transformatur ? Nullum se- 
cretum ubi regnat ebrielas, et quid non aliud designat malum 1 Fcccundi calices 
quern non fecere disertum ? What is filthier than a drunken m,an, to whom there is 
stink in the mouth, trembling in the body ; who uttereth foolish things, and revealeth 
secret things ; whose mind is alienate, and face transformed ? There is no secrecy 
where drunkenness rules ; nay, what other mischief doth it not design ? Whom have 
not plentiful cups made eloquent and talking 1 

When Diogenes saw a house to be sold, whereof the owner was given to 
drink, I thought at the last, quoth Diogenes, he would spew out a whole house ; 
sciebam inquit, quod domum tandem evomeret. 



GOD. 

Now, for the world, I know it too well to persuade thee to dive into the prac- 
tices thereof; rather stand upon thine own guard against all that tempt thee 
thereunto, or may practise upon thee in thy conscience, thy reputation, or thy 
purse ; resolve that no man is wise or safe, but he that is honest. 

Serve God, let him be the author of all thy actions, commend all thy endeavors 
to him that must either wither or prosper them, please him with prayer, lest if he 
frown he confound all thy fortunes and labors, like the drops of rain on the sandy 
ground. Let my experienced advice, a,nd fatherly instructions, sink deep into thy 
heart. So God direct thee in all his ways, and fill thy heart with his grace ! 

11* 



APPENDIX NO. V. 



VOCABULARIES 



OF THE 



LANGUAGES OF FIVE INDIAN NATIONS IN GUYANA. 





Ackoway. 


Atoray. 


Macoussie. 


TlBBRACOTTI. 


G0AR»NO. 


Supreme Being, 


Maire,* 


Wyeemeeree, 






Kwareesabarote. 


Evil Spirit, 




Parai, 






Haiboo. 


Man, 


Warao, 


Yawanai, 






Naiboora. 


Woman, 


Woreesan 


Reanaro, 






Teera. 


Head, 


Ayupai, 


Reerwoo, 


Oopopu, 


Oputpa, 


Kwa. 


Eyes, 


Ayainu, 


Pandaiee, 


Wianu, 


Oneana, 


Moo. 


Moutb, 


Onda, 


Owo, 


Oondah, 


Opota, 


Moko. 


Hair, 


Ayunsai, 




Apoupi, 


Oupootpi, 


Heeoo. 


Hand, 


Yaieena, 


Achta, 


Quemya, 




Mamoohoo. 


Foot, 


Ochta, 


Pee, 


Oboro, 


Oupti, 


Homoo. 


Heart, 


Aiyairairee, 




Qpropata, 


Oyawa, 




Bone, 






Yapo, 


Ouyapti, 


Mohoo. 


Blood, 


Amoune, 


Caraieepa, 






Hotoo. 


Father, 






Papa, 


Papa, 


Eena. 


Mother, 






Mama, 


Ema, 


Anee. 


Brother, 






Meko, 


Pekii, 


Aka. 


Sister, 






Woreshe, 


Aneahou, 


Achu. 


Death, 


Ee-e-waireesa, 


Camaiepo, 








Fire, 


Achpo, 


Teekairee, 


Api, 


Apoto, 


Haikoonso. 


Earth, 


Kiapou, 








Obee. 


Water, 


Touna, 


Wonee, 






Ho. 


Sun. 


Waiyu, 




Way, 


Way, 


Yaa. 


Moon, 


Capoui, 




Capoui, 


Nyano, 


Waneekoo. 


Star, 






Serika, 


Serika, 


Nahamootoo 


Wind, 


Cooranahoo, 








Aha. 


Thunder, 


Waranabee, 




Woronope, 


Pikerara, 




Lightning, 


Capa-capai, 




Azanzema 


Ewathanie, 




Rain, 


Toona, 


Woonee, 


Cono, 


Conopo, 




Day, 


Taiwinkoree, 


Sadahana, 








Month, 


Capouee, 


Bodalee, 








Hill, 




Canoco, 






Hotakwi. 


Island, 


Paoo, 








Booroho. 


River, 


Toonansai, 


Padeekuoo 


Toonacashaza, 


Kipuag, 


Naba. 


Yellow, 


Teekainai, 




Sanaqupong, 


Tippara, 




Red, 


Yabeelai, 




Eehuwaw, 


Tapera, 




Black, 


Takarai, 




Orie, 


Tekewa, 




White, 


Ayeemootoa, 




Tinoonung, 


Taumutna, 




Tree, 


Etaiboo, 


Atamoou, 


Yioa, 


Yaa, 


Daoona. 



APPENDIX, 



165 





Ackoways. 


Atoray. 


M.VCOUSSIE. 


Tiberacotti. 


GUARANO. 


House, 


Yaiwootoo, 




Houta, 


Houta, 


Hano. 


Arrow, 










Hataboo. 


Bow, 


Woorapai, 


Ooboonee, 






Hotobooroo. 


Stave, 






Pitarie, 


Opito, 




Hamack, 






Outa, 


Koukame, 


Haa. 


Knife, 


Yatawari, 


Maree, 


Pawara, 


Marea, 




Maize, 


Eekan, 


Mareesee, 


Aanie, 


Kiawa, 


Nowcom. 


Plantain, 


Platana, 


Cheere, 


Piruru, 


Pratana, 




Sweet Potatoe, 


Shaak, 




Saa, 


Yaako, 


Orairai. 


Cassava, 






Kisa, 


Kirey, 




Tobacco, 


Conica, 


Shooma, 


Kawi, 


Kawi, 




Salt, 


Pank, 


Daiwoo, 


Pama, 


Wiyou, 




Fowl, 


Caroweena, 


Cararee, 


Kareweara, 


Karaka, 




Good, 


Wakeeton, 




Wak. 


Patie, 




Bad, 


Oreeton, 


Karan, 


Hirera, 


Maropema, 




More, 


Tookai, 


Pakeekoo, 








Long, 


Koosan, 


Moonarahee, 


Coosan, 


Apura, 


Boomoita. 


Wide, 


Saneemai, 








Kabooredasa. 


Little, 


Aikaiseelee, 


Seerde, 






Sameekeera. 


Great, 


Aikai, 


Eehailee, 


Ohi 


Kioah, 


Ooreeda. 


One, 


Taiwin, 


Bananee, 






Eeshaka. 


Two, 


Oko, 


Badaeekee, 






Manamoo. 


Three, 


Orowa, 


Osororow, 






Dehanamoo. 


Four, 


Okopui, 








Oorabookaioo 


Five, 


Taiwinyaieena, 
(one hand) 








Moohabasee. 


Six, 










Moomtaineesak 


Twenty, 


Owee Carena, 
(one person) 








Warow-eesak. 
(one person) 



* Thia word I take from the Travels of Grillett and Bechamel in Cayenne, in 1674. 



APPENDIX NO. VI. 






The following Table exhibits a comparison of the Arrowack, Atoray, Maypure, 
Moxos, and Quichua languages ; the words from the two first, taken from vocab- 
ularies I made in Guyana, one of which is in Appendix No. III., the otbers from 
Professor Vater's Mithridates, except where noted : 





Arrowack. 


Atoray. 


Maypure. 


Moxos. 


QUICHUA. 


Water, 


Wooni, 


Woonie, 


Ueni, 


Uni, 


Uni. 


Fire, 


Hekehe, 


Tekairee, 


Catti, 


Jucu, 




Heaven, 


Ayamooni, 




Eno, 


Anumo, 




Moon, 


Katchi, 




Kejape, 






Honey, 


Maba, 




Mapa, 


Mopomo, 


Mapa. 


Maize, 


Mareesee, 


Mareesee, 






* Muruchu. 


Pepper, 


Hachi, 


- 






tUchu. 


Nose, 


D'asseeree, 




t N'ukiri, 


t N'usiri, 




Eye, 


D'acoosee, 






N'uchii, 




Hand, 


D'ackaboo, 


Achta, 


N'uchabi, 


N'uboa, 




Arm, 


D'adinna, 






N'uanna, 




Woman, 


Hearo, 


Reanaro, 









* Garcillaso s Commentaries on Peru, Book 8, chap. 9, p. 318: " Their maize is of two kinds, one of which 
they call muruchu." 

f Garcillaso's Commentaries on Peru, Book 8, chap. 9, p. 318: "Their red pepper they call uchu, whicli is the 
same as the Spaniards call axi, (the Haytian name for it.") 

t The (N) prefixed to these words, and those which follow in the same lists, is probably only a pronoun, as the 
letter (D,) the first in the corresponding words of the Arrowack, is the pronoun di, in that language, signi- 
fying my." 



" Periodicals- j or tlie People" published by JO Winchester, 30 Ann St., New-York- 

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MATILDA; ~~ 

OR, THE 

MEMOIRS OF A YOUNG WOMAN. 

BY EUGENE SUE, 

AUTHOR OF TEDE " MYSTERIES OF PARIS," ETC., ETC. 



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" This Romance, probably the best novel of society ever published in France, is, in many respects, greatly su- 
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merited a sphere of renown. The morality is unquestionable. Indeed, we cannot conceive of a character more 
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novel we have ever met with ; and it suffices in itself to place its author, Eugene Sue, in the front rank of con- 
temporaneous authors. It is translated by Henry W. Herbert, known most favorably throughout this country 
and Great Britain, as one of the most brilliant and successful novelists of the day." — [N. Y. True Sun. 

" Such a work as this will exert a salutary effect on strong, well-balanced minds, by impelling them to think 
and act on the evils whose frightful abysses it uncovers."— [N. Y. Tribune. 

Second Notice.—" We found time to peruse this work thoroughly during a recent journey, and were never 
more powerfully affected. There are chapters of terrible energy and insight— such as will compel you to turn 
back and read them again, even though to read be agony. The letter of Ursula to De Lancry— the ravings of 
Matilda on the desertion of her husband, and its consequence— the decadence and death-scene of Ursula— are of 
this class, with many others. Indeed, Ursula and the influences which made her what she was, are among the 
master-pieces of modem literature. In the novel of society, the French are doubtless unequalled ; and this is 
one of the best of the school. 

" Yet it is by no means without faults, and great ones. Matilda is a noble being, but not of the highest order 
of women. She marries a known and flagrant libertir.e in the silly hope of reclaiming hiin, which no woman of 
:ue delicacy, to say nothing of common sense, would do. She then, having been treated with every brutality 
nd indignity by hev husband— as was to be expected— and finully deserted by him, falls in love with another 
ian, and is on the point of attaching herself to him, while the wretch who is her legal husband still lives. She 
i not above listening to conversations intended to be private, when their subject deeply interests her. Then ths 
ero, De Rochegune, falls in love with the abused and deserted wife, fights a duel with indifference, and wounds 
is adversary. Indeed, all the true men in the book are duellists on provocation. These are sad drawbacks, and 
rove that the standard of Parisian fashionable morality must be low indeed. And yet, strange though it be, we 
now not where beside to find a modern book so well calculated to inspire intense detestation of Vice in general, 
nd especially of the brutal tyranny and lust of which Woman is so often the law-devoted victim, as this same 
Iatilda."-[N. Y. Tribune. 

" Sue's thrilling story of ' Matilda,' translated by H. W. Herbert, Esq., although not quite so extensive or 
iversified in its range of subjects, is equally as powerful and finished a work as the ' Mysteries ;' and we antici- 
ate a popularity for it equal to that obtained by that magnificent effort of genius."— [N. Y. Aurora. 
" Matilda is a work of great power and interest, scarcely inferior, in any respect, to the ' Mysteries of Paris.' 
n this work, the author has taken a new path. Instead of describing scenes of guilt, wretchedness and crfme, 
* visits the hails of light, and sketches upon the canvas of his imagination the portraits of royalty, and intro- 
luccs his readers to scenes of splendor and magnificence. The work before us is translated by that popular 
lovelist, H. W. Herbert, and is most faithfully rendered." — [Boston Bee. 

" We regard this work of M. Sue as decidedly great. We have little hesitation in declaring it the most extra- 
>rdinary thing we have ever read— greatly superior to the ' Mysteries of Paris.' The interest is kept up with 
incommon power and ability, and the moral evolved by the machinery of the story in the most attractive 
manner. M. Sue is evidently a master-spirit, and is destined to distinguished eminence as a novelist,"— [Lan- 
caster (Pa.) Journal. 



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IMPORTANT ENTERPRISE! 

II Cf 
OR 

mined to issue 



In consequence of the extraordinary popularity and large demand for copies in the original, the publisher of 
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A FRENCH EDITION 



MYSTERIES OF PARIS, 

BY EUGENE SUE. 

UNDER THE CRITICAL SUPERINTENDENCE OF 

PROFESSOR C. P. BORDENAVE. 

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who are conversant with the French language. We give below Prof. Bordenave's Card, certifying to the cor- 
rectness of this edition : 

"A CARD. 

"I have read four proofs of each and every page of the New World edition of the 'Mysteries of Paris,' in 
French, with great care ; and 1 hereby certify that the edition is literally correct. I have not only corrected the 
errors of the press in the present, but those which occurred in the best original Paris edition, from which this has 
been copied. This is, therefore, the most perfect edition extant. 

" I take this occasion to ecommend the public to test the excellence of Mr. Deming's translation, by comparing it 
with the French. No better exercise for learners could be devised. C. P. BORDENAVE, Prof, of Languages." 

TERMS OF PUBLICATION. 
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ENTREPRISE IMPORTANTE! 

La popularity toujours croissante des " Mysteres de Paris," la demande reiteree qui se fait tous les jours de 
l'original de eet ouvrage extraordinaire ont engage les proprietaires du " New World " a donner au public one 
edition Francaise des 

M.YSTERES DE PARIS, 

Complete en huit livraisons a 25 sous chaque. Cette edition est iditee et corrigee avec 
le plus grand soin par 

C. P. BORDENAVE, Professetjr de Langues. 

L'6dition de Paris qui nous sert de copie revient dans ce pays-ci, a dotjze dollars, ce prix 6norme doit 
necessurement empecher beaucoup de personnes, de se procurer ce bel ouvrage d'Eugene Sue. II y a dans la 
ville de New- York 30,000 Francais, sans faire mention des habitants de l'etat de la Louisiana, et du Canada, qui 
sont la plupart Francais ou fils de Francais, il y a en outre aux Etats-Unis, des rnjlliers de personnes qui parlent 
ou liserit avec facilite la langue Francaise ; les proprietaires du New World ont done tout lieu d'esperer que leur 
entreprise recevra 1'approbation et le support non seulement des Frangais etablis aux Etats-Unis, ruais encore des 
Anglais, des Allemands, et des Americains qui sont verses dans la langue Francaise. Le certificat, qui suit, fera 
preuve du soin avec lequel cette edition est publiee. 

Ayant lu et corrige avec le plus grand soin 4 epreuves differentes de l'edition Francaise des Mysteres de Paris 
publiee par les proprietaires du New World, je la recommande au public, comme extremement correcte; non 
seulement j'ai corrige avec le plus grand soin. l'edition du New World, mais encore, j'ai corrige les erreurs qui 
se trouvaient par hasard dans l'edition de Paris qui a servi de copie. Je considere done l'edition du New World 
comme la plus parfaile qui existe. 

Je prends plaisir en meme temps a recommn nder au public de comparer la traduction de M. Deming avec 
celle-ci; ce qui sera tres avantageux pourceux qui litudient la langue Francaise. 

C. P. BORDENAVE, Professeur de Langues. 

TERMES. 

Cet ouvrage sera imprime sirwun papier excellent, le caractere est entitlement neuf, et sera composd de huit 

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livraisons scront emisea ai.ssi rapidement que possible, au moins line ou deux par semainejusqu'k la conclusion 

1 1 de l'ouvrage. 25 sous la livraison, se vend aux libraires et aux agents $16 la cent. 

)-' 

. Co 



